Naruto: Zelda's Awakening
by yuesmlihui
Summary: It's the day that Zelda receives her Loftwing.  But when she and Link are flying, a black tornado hits and leaves Zelda and her Loftwing in...the world of Naruto!  Will she ever get back to Skyloft?  Wait, how is Fi involved in this?  Read to find out!
1. Ceremonies and Black Tornados

**A/N:** I do not own Zelda or Naruto. Just the story plot :P.

So…Skyward Sword is definitely on my top Zelda games. Not to mention the EPIC MUSIC! Eargasm much? Anyway, so I came up with this little plot, and since Link is always the main character, I thought I'd give Zelda a little more spotlight. Soo…Link fans…I'm very sorry about this fanfic. Zelda-fans (the character) here ya go!

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btw…I thought you should know, the story starts out when Zelda is 7 years old, and is about to receive her Loftwing. Then you'll understand more. And I also apologize to those who haven't had the pleasure of playing (or seeing) the game.

Chapter 1

Bright blue eyes, a cute small nose, and golden-yellow tresses stared right back at her. 7-year old Zelda was looking at her own reflection in her mirror. She turned to her head to the side, making sure everything was perfect. Seeing nothing, but feeling the need to fix something, she fiddled with the hair clip that clustered a small portion of her hair next to her face.

She sighed.

"Zelda?" She turned to see the face of her father, Gaepora, the headmaster at the Knight's Academy. "It is time," he told her gently.

Zelda gave a small nod of her head. "I'll be right there, father," she said with a smile on her face. Her father smiled back before gently closing the door.

Zelda sighed and looked at herself once more in the mirror. "You can do this, you can _do this_," she kept chanting to herself. After a few moments, she stood up, and walked out of her room.

She turned around to meet a burly young boy with fire red hair that was flipped up. He had a cheesy smile on his weird looking face. She rolled her eyes at the boy.

"Hi, Groose," she forced a smile on her face.

"Zelda! I uh, just uh…wanted to wish you luck today," he stammered. Oddly enough, as big and tough he looked, he always got flustered around the blonde-haired girl. "And I wanted to ask you," he continued, rubbing the back of his neck as he started to get red, "if after your ceremony, you'd want to take a ri-eh? Zelda?"

He looked to find the girl happily chattering with a blond-haired boy with blue eyes. He frowned as he saw Zelda hug the other boy.

"I'm so glad you're up, Link! I was afraid you'd sleep in and miss my ceremony," she told the boy.

The boy sheepishly looked away. "You know I wouldn't miss your Loftwing ceremony, Zelda. We're best friends, remember?"

Zelda giggled, then looked sorrowful. "I hope a Loftwing will come to me," she said.

Link put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, "Remember what you're father said, 'Each of us in Skyloft is but one half of a pair.' There's a Loftwing out there for you, Zelda. And you're going to meet him or her today."

"But what if the Loftwing doesn't like me?" Zelda replied.

Link gave a small laugh. "Zelda, I highly doubt a Loftwing will show itself to you if it doesn't like you. Just relax, and have fun!"

Groose stomped up to the pair, having enough. "Hey pretty-boy! Sounding pretty know-it-all for a person who just received his own Loftwing two weeks ago!"

"Not just _any_ Loftwing, Groose. It's a _crimson_ Loftwing," Zelda glowered at the redhead.

Groose only snorted. "Whatever, I don't care if he had the best Loftwing in Skyloft. Say, Zelda, after you're ceremony, why don't you take a ride on your Loftwing with me around Skyloft? It would be much better than hanging out with _newbie_ over here."

Link stayed silent. Not because he couldn't defend himself, but only because Groose was probably the biggest idiot on Skyloft and didn't deserve his attention.

Zelda's eyes hardened. "Thanks, but no thanks Groose. I'd rather hang out with this _newbie_."

Groose just crossed his arms, smirking. "Whatever," he said, "my offer still stands." And with that, he exited the building.

Zelda looked after him. "He just infuriates me so much!" she huffed.

Link laughed, "Zelda, it's no big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal," she turned on him, "he had no right insulting you. Big talk, coming from a guy who still isn't that great of a rider himself, considering he received his Loftwing _last_ _year_."

Link started steering her towards the exit, trying to calm her. "Groose is just…Groose," he said, "and like I said, it's not a big deal. Right now, _you_ need to concentrate and focus for your big event."

They reached the door. Zelda turned to face him. "Are you sure I can do this?" she asked him.

Link nodded. "Positive. _You_ know you can do this." Zelda closed her eyes, and opened them with a smile.

"You're right," she said. They gave each other one last hug.

"I'll be out there watching. But don't look for me, concentrate on finding and sensing your Loftwing," he told her as they separated. Zelda nodded before heading out.

88888888

There was a small crowd underneath the Statue of the Goddess. Her father, Professor Owlan and Horwell, Pippit, Karane, Fledge, Groose, Cawlin and Stich, and last but not least, Link.

Zelda was standing in the center in the open area. There was a bunch of multicolored Loftwings flying overhead. Zelda looked up at them. One of them will become her companion for life. Her heart began to pound within her chest. She held the saddle up to her chest tightly.

"Please begin the ceremony," Professor Owlan called out to her.

Zelda closed her eyes, searching for the presence of her destined Loftwing. After what seemed like a long time, with nothing, her eyes brows furrowed.

"What's wrong," Pipit called out. He noticed that she had suddenly become uneasy.

"I…I can't feel any presence," she said in a quivering voice. Panic seized her body. Why can't she feel it?

"Uh-oh," Karane muttered, "Has anyone from the academy ever _not_ been matched up with a Loftwing?"

"Never. Every Loftwing has come down for his or her destined companion," Pipit answered.

"Zelda, you must calm your body and mind! You must trust that your Loftwing is up there. It will not come down if you are not at ease," Professor Horwell gently reminded her. He too had also detected nervousness from the girl.

Forcing herself to stay calm, Zelda took a deep breath before trying again. This time, she thought of Link, and her body immediately relaxed. Another moment passed.

Then suddenly, she felt something. A flash of purple-blue appeared within her mind. And then, she felt a gentle breeze across her face, and another presence in front of her.

"Well I'll be…" Gaepora trailed off.

"She's a beauty," she heard Pippit say. The others also made their comments.

Zelda slowly opened her eyes, and saw two four-toed feet, bluish-purple wings, a white chest, yellow beak, and golden eyes staring back at her curiously. Startled, she took a step back. This was her! This was her Loftwing!

Hesitantly, Zelda put her hand out to the bird. The Loftwing curiously looked at the hand, before edging closer, putting its beak into her hand. Slowly, Zelda maneuvered her hand up the beak and over its head, petting it. The Loftwing gave a soft cry at the menstruation.

"Beautiful, just like her," Groose sighed dreamily to himself.

Link smiled, before disappearing from the group.

Zelda gently looped the saddle over and on and Loftwing so that it settled around its chest.

Professor Owlan gave a small smile of his own before clearing his throat. "And now for the next step," he said.

As he said that, Zelda's Loftwing backed up with a cry and took off into the air. Zelda looked up in wonder and surprise. She looked at Professor Owlan.

"You must jump off the island and call your Loftwing. This moment is crucial bonding moment for you and your Loftwing," he explained.

Zelda nodded. Of course she knew that. Every student at the Academy knew that the first calling of your Loftwing is the most important time in one's life. Looking at one of the ledges, determinedly, she ran towards it, jumping off.

She spread her arms out, slowing her fall. Putting both hands to her mouth, she gave a nice long whistle. Immediately she saw a purplish-blue blur come towards her. She landed on the bird and quickly grabbed hold of its saddle. She gently tugged the saddle upward and the bird made a smooth flap of its wings, gaining altitude.

When the crowd saw that she was safely on her Loftwing, they started cheering.

"She did it!" Pippit cried, "She's on her Loftwing!"

"Look at her go! Professor Owlan, you must have taught her well. You too, Professor Horwell," Karane commented.

"You're daughter is a wonderful student, sir," Professor Owlan said to Gaepora.

"That is true. And she has such a way with animals," Professor Horwell added.

"My daughter, has her own Loftwing," Gaepora said with a proud smile on his face, "I've always imagined the day when a Loftwing would show itself to her. It's everything I imagined."

Zelda smiled and gave a wave. She scanned the crowed for her blonde-haired friend, but didn't see him. She frowned. Where was Link? He said he would be at the ceremony didn't he?

"I thought I told you to not look for me," a teasing voice came was heard from the side.

Zelda gasped as she saw Link atop his own crimson Loftwing flying right beside her. Her heart jumped for joy. She was so excited, that she had to restrain herself from jumping off her Loftwing just to hug him.

"How did I do?" she asked him.

"Perfect," he said with a smile.

The two, atop their Loftwings, flew side by side with each other. It was a peaceful, if not romantic, scene; two best friends riding the wind together.

"It's time to close up the ceremony, Zelda," Link finally spoke, "Professor Owlan is trying to get our attention."

"Right." Both hylians flew towards the crowd.

The Loftwings flew low enough for the two to jump off without getting injured. Link saw Groose giving him a hard look. Professor Owlan walked up to Zelda, handing her a bright golden harp.

"And now, you must thank the Goddess."

Zelda nodded, and took the harp. It was the Goddess's Harp. It was said to belong to the Goddess Hylia herself. She raised her hands, and started playing. It was a beautiful melody; the plucking was smooth, not too hard, and not too soft. She began to sing along.

_Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land._

_Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower...and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear._

Her voice was sweet and blended with the harp's sound. She lowered the harp as she finished.

After the ceremony, everyone went up to congratulate her.

"Great job, Zelda! All that hard work has paid off," Professor Owlan told her with Professor Howell next to him, nodding in agreement.

"You couldn't have asked for a better Loftwing. I can tell that she's a perfect fit for you," Pipit said.

"Thank you. All of you, not only for being here, but for helping me get here as well," Zelda said with a smile on her face. Her father walked up to her.

"Words can not explain how proud I am of you today," he said as he enveloped her in a hug.

"Thank you, father," she mumbled into his robe while tightening her hug. They released each other.

"Now, I'm sure you'll want to ride your Loftwing more," he began, "just make sure you're back by nightfall. You know Loftwings have horrible night vision. And it's dangerous."

"Yes, father." With that, she turned to look at Link who nodded at her. Both of them took off running to the ledge.

Groose just stood there gaping. Embarrassed and angered, he was about to take after them until Headmaster Gaepora stopped him.

"Oh, Groose. Might I have a word with you? I've heard some interesting rumors that involve you and Link's Loftwing, hm?"

Groose's face started turning red as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Well he sure won't be flying around with Zelda anytime soon.

88888888

The childhood friends glided in the sky on their Loftwings, all of them enjoying the ride. Zelda observed Link on his crimson Loftwing, how serene and peaceful he looked. The world could be at its end, and still he'd be just gliding along the clouds. A natural.

Zelda felt herself grow a little jealous as she remembered when Link received his Loftwing. How strong their bond was as soon as the two met! If only her ceremony went that way. Her eyebrows furrowed. And he doesn't even practice as hard as the others do. He spends most of his time daydreaming!

She took one look again, and immediately her jealousy faded. He looked so happy. She let a small smile grace her features.

"Hey Zelda," Link suddenly called out to her, "Do you think you'll ever play the roll as the Goddess during the Wing Ceremony?"

Zelda laughed. "Of course! It's every girls' dream to play the Goddess roll. I mean the costume is beautiful! Not to mention you get to play the Goddess's Harp." She looked at the harp she held in her arms. She'd forgotten to give it back to Professor Owlan, but he wouldn't mind. He'd probably think she'd use it to practice for the Wing Ceremony.

"Yeah, AND you get a sail cloth. I can't wait until I get mine…uh, that is if I win the Wing Ceremony," Link sheepishly said.

She laughed then turned her attention ahead of her, looking down at the cloud barrier once in a while.

"What are you thinking Zelda?" Link asked her.

Zelda kept her eyes on the cloud barrier below them. "I'm just thinking, how the Surface would be," she answered, "No one's ever traveled below the cloud barrier. Granted, no one was ever able to get passed it."

Link looked below as well. "I'm sure it's a wonderful place to be. Probably a lot different than our Skyloft."

Zelda nodded her head. "A place, where I can feel the warm breeze. A place where the trees are huge and plentiful," she said dreamily. She looked at Link. "You know Link, I'm glad we're best friends," she told him.

Link looked at her in shock. Than gave a smile. "I'm glad we're friends too, Zelda."

They rode on for a while longer, until the sun started to set.

"Hey Zelda, we should head back. It's getting dark," Link told her. Zelda agreed and they both headed back towards the huge floating island. As they neared the island a flash of light suddenly struck right in front of them, which turned into a big black tornado.

"What is that?" Zelda cried.

The two Loftwings gave a cry of surprise and tried to slow themselves down. Both hylians gave a cry and clung to their Loftwings for dear life. Link urged his Loftwing to turn to the side.

"Zelda! Try to get your Loftwing to turn away from it. Maybe we can just go around and avoid it!" he called out to her. With that his Loftwing flapped its wings and they slowly made their way away from the tornado.

Zelda nodded and gently but firmly tugged on the saddle to the side, urging her own Loftwing to turn. Her Loftwing turned, but when it flapped its wings to get away from the tornado, they didn't move. Instead, there was a slight pull towards the tornado. Zelda gasped.

She was being pulled in!

"Link! Help me!" she cried out as her Loftwing cried and furiously flapped its wings, desperate to get itself and its rider away from the threat.

Link turned to look and saw his friend being sucked it. Suddenly, they were immersed in the black wind. He gasped.

"Zelda!"

With a cry, his Loftwing dove towards the other pair. As soon as they reached them, his Loftwing suddenly stopped and gave another cry, as if it had hit something hard.

"What?" Link looked around. Its as if there was a barrier. Backing his Loftwing up, they charged one more time at the tornado, breaking through.

In the black wind, he spotted the purplish-blue Loftwing, with Zelda holding onto its neck tightly. She spotted him.

"Link!" she cried.

"Zelda!" he urged his Loftwing on, "Hold on!"

Just as he was about to reach them, a sudden force came between them, knocking Link and his Loftwing out of the black tornado. The force also knocked Zelda off her Loftwing, leaving the girl and her Loftwing out in the open of the tornado. A glint of gold was also seen in the whirlwind. She had accidently let go of the Goddess's Harp!

Outside of the black tornado, Link was unconscious, and fell off his Loftwing, who quickly regain itself and hurriedly caught its rider on its back and dashed towards Loftwing.

The black tornado continued whirling angrily. But instead of pulling Zelda down to the Surface like it was _suppose_ to do, it moved in a blink of an eye somewhere far f_ar_ away from Skyloft, and deposited her, her Loftwing, and the Goddess's Harp somewhere that was _not_ the Surface.

88888888

_Back at Skyloft_….

"What _was _that?" Pipit exclaimed outside the Knight's Academy.

Everyone back at Skyloft had seen the menacing black tornado, and they were all curious to what it was.

"That was no ordinary storm," Professor Owlan said.

Headmaster Gaepora had a worried look on his face. Where were Zelda and Link? The sun was setting, and after that horrible event, he wanted nothing more than to see the two children back safe and sound on Skyloft.

Suddenly, Karane spotted the crimson Loftwing. "Look! There's Link! But," she looked for the purplish-blue Loftwing, "I don't see Zelda with him!"

"He lost Zelda?" Groose cried, "I told her she should've ridden with me! _I_ would never lose her."

"Groose!" Professor Howell said in a sharp tone, "Now's not the time." He looked closer at the crimson Loftwing. "Goddess," he whispered, "Link's unconscious!"

Gaepora closed his eyes in defeat. So they had been caught in that tornado. The Loftwing gently landed in front of everyone. Pipit quickly caught Link before he slid off, while Professor Howell quickly scanned the bird, checking for any injuries.

"Link! Can you hear me?" Pipit said to the boy.

"Link you idiot! You better wake up right now!" Groose shouted.

"We should get him to a bed," Pipit said.

"Wait! He's waking up!" Karane cried.

Link slowly opened his eyes, groggily. "What…happened?" he said in a sluggish voice. Suddenly, he bolted upright. "Zelda!" he cried, "I have to go save her!"

"Woah, there. You're not going anywhere in your state," Pipit said as he stopped Link.

"But she's out there. The tornado got her!" Link argued.

"Link," Karane said softly, "You need to rest first."

"I can't!" he resisted, "I need to go find a way to get to the Surface. That's the only place she could be!"

"Link…" Professor Owlan began, "Zelda isn't on the Surface. The tornado vanished somewhere else. She is below the cloud barrier, that much is true. But she's nowhere on the Surface."

Link's eyes faltered. It couldn't be. Not on the Surface? Where could she be then?

"As long as her Loftwing is with her, Zelda will be fine," Gaepora finally spoke. His eyes were grave. "And you, Link, need some rest. You've had a rough day. You can search for her after you've had some rest. Besides, it's getting dark."

Link sadly and reluctantly let himself be lead back into the Knights Academy. The last rays of sunlight could just be seen through the clouds. Gaepora sighed and looked at the Statue of the Goddess from where he stood.

"Goddess Hylia. Hear my prayer. Please let Zelda be alright. Watch over her and guide her back to us," he sadly whispered before heading into the Knights Academy himself for some rest.

After he closed the door, a bright blue light appeared in the area where the Statue of the Goddess was. Suddenly, it shot out and went into the direction where the tornado went and disappeared underneath the clouds.

88888888

_Somewhere beneath the clouds…_

She lay conscious in a forest. No sight of her Loftwing or the Goddess's Harp. She was alone. She stirred and slowly woke up.

"Where…am I?" she said in a groggy voice. Her eyes suddenly shot open as she felt a warm breeze and noticed large trees around her. She looked around in wonder and amazement.

"Am I, on the Surface?" she wondered.

She got up and slowly walked around. Where was her Loftwing? She gasped as she realized she wasn't holding anything. Better yet, where was the harp? She kept walking until she found herself at a cliff. It was a long way down, and more trees hid the bottom. She remembered her Loftwing was with her in that black tornado, but was it where _she_ was? She couldn't feel her Loftwing's presence, but maybe her Loftwing was just a little panicked. I mean, they _are_ in an unknown territory, _and_ they're separated from each other.

"Only one way to find out," she murmured to herself. Taking a deep breath, she backed up and sprinted towards the cliff. She jumped off, spreading her arms out wide to slow her fall, put her fingers up to her mouth, and blew.

_*FWEEEEEEEEEE*_

Nothing. Nothing except the sound of air rushing past her ears and she continued to fall. Slightly panicked, she tried again.

*_FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*_

Nothing again. Zelda's eyes widened. Her Loftwing wasn't here. Scared, Zelda whimpered and wrapped her arms around her self as she continued to fall. She shut her eyes tightly waiting for her death.

She suddenly felt something solid and warm hit her side.

**A/N:** So what did you think! Cool huh? ;) I have a playlist made to help me write. It's a mixure of the Skyward Sword soundtrack and Naruto soundtrack. If you guys REALLY want to know, just PM and I'll it up :D Anyway, Please review and/or at least put me on your Alert or Favorite list!


	2. A New Friend

**A/N:** I do not own Naruto or Zelda.

Okay, everyone in Rookie 9 is around 7 or 8 years old. The reason being, I want them to be the same age as Zelda. JUST so you know.

Chapter 2

Four figures were walking outside the gates of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Man, can you believe that storm that ripped through here?" Asuma stated as he lit another cigarette.

"The power of youth can be felt even within Nature's own doing!" the man in the green spandex suite, Gai, exclaimed.

"Hmm…yes, it was strong, but something about it was a bit off. That's why the Hokage sent us to go investigate around the village, right Kakashi?" a woman, Kurenai, asked the silver-haired man in front of her.

The leader of the squad, Kakashi Hatake, nodded. "Our job is to a make sure that everything is normal," he stated, "The Third Hokage is a bit worried that the storm had something to do with Orochimaru."

The mention of the snake-man had everyone silent. They kept walking.

"So, what do you think of this year's graduating genin class? Rookie 9, I believe they're called," Kurenai asked, breaking the silence, "I heard that the Hyuuga heiress and her cousin are in that class."

Asuma sighed. "I heard that the children of Ino-Shika-Cho were in that class," he said as he took a drag from the cigarette.

"Yes! And there is a student who has no talent in genjutsu, but worked just as hard as the others! The power of youth knows no boundaries!" Gai said as he gave a bright smile.

"I also heard that the Uchiha and Nine-tailed fox Demon carrier are also part of Rookie 9," Asuma added, "And the fact that they have an on going feud between them."

"I wonder who we'll be matched with," Kurenai said getting excited. She loved children, and wanted nothing more than to be a squad leader and help them discover their ninja way.

Kakashi stayed silent.

"Do you think this year will be the year you pass your genin team, Kakashi?" Gai asked out of the blue.

All eyes were on the silver-haired ninja. He only shrugged, showing no emotion in his one eye.

"It all depends on if they understand the true meaning of what it means to be a ninja of Konoha," he said.

They arrived at a dead end; a cliff was way up at the top. They searched the area. Everything seemed to be fine and normal. Soon, they regrouped at the bottom of the cliff.

"Alright, everything seems clear here. Let's check the east and west parts," Kakashi stated.

"Do you think we could go in teams?" Asuma asked, "We'll cover more area, and it will be quicker."

Kakashi thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose we could do that," he said after a while, "Alright, we meet back at the gates. From there we'll check the South part together."

"Right."

Before any of them could move, a bright blue light coming from the sky caught their attention.

"What's that?" Gai asked.

A whistle sound was heard as well. They looked up. A girl had jumped off the cliff and was headed straight down to where they were!

"Kakashi!" Kurenai cried.

But he beat her to it. "Asuma, you, Kurenai, and Gai go head over to where that blue light landed. I'll handle the girl!" he ordered.

The three jounin disappeared in a flash towards the blue light while Kakashi ran up the cliff wall pumping chakra to his feet. He heard the girl give another whistle.

"What is she doing?" he asked himself and his eye narrowed.

As soon as he reached her level, he jumped off and caught the girl in his arms. He gracefully landed on one of the tree branches and jumped to the ground, the girl still in his arms.

He looked down at the girl in wonder. Her arms were wrapped tight around her waist, and her eyes were shut tightly. Where did she come from? And why was she falling off a cliff? It was obvious she wasn't a ninja; she didn't have a chakra network. However, there was something else he sensed from her, something that was different compared to chakra.

He looked back up. Was she being chased by rogue ninjas? No, he didn't feel the presence of other ninjas. The other option could be that she was suicidal. She didn't look like a girl who would do that. But, why was she whistling?

The girl stirred in his arms, realizing that she was no longer falling. She opened her blue eyes, and looked up in his lone dark one. She blinked. Who was this man before her? Were there other hylians that lived on the Surface? No, this man wasn't a hylian, his ears weren't pointed. But her father's old textbooks said that the only creatures inhabiting the Surface were Mogmas, Kikwis, and Perellas. There were others as well, but she couldn't remember them at the moment.

"Um…who are you?" she hesitantly asked the silver-haired, masked ninja.

88888888

The three jounin streaked towards the area where the blue light had landed. When they arrived at the landing, they found nothing. It was just all trees and bushes.

"Let's search the area," Asuma suggested.

So the three jounin did. They searched the trees, bushes, but found nothing.

"Well, whatever it was, it's no longer here," Gai stated as they finished up, "Let's report this to the Hokage. Hopefully it's nothing we'll have to worry about."

Kurenai nodded. "Let's get back to the meeting site."

They disappeared in a blur back towards the cliff wall. A faint blue glow came from underneath one of the bushes in a hole that the grass covered. They had missed the hole because of the grass. Within the hole…

…was the Goddess's Harp.

88888888

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. I'm from the Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And who might you be?" he asked the young girl in his arms.

"My name is Zelda. And I don't remember my father's texts talking about a place called Konoha on the Surface," she answered. Deciding that the man wasn't a threat, she started feeling comfortable around him.

"Never heard of Konoha, you say? Hm," Kakashi said as he looked up at nothing. He was trying to think. How could she have not heard of Konoha? And did she say "the surface?" His thinking was cut short as the rest of his team appeared. He let Zelda down.

"No sighting of the light Kakashi," Gai explained, "Whatever it was, was gone before we could reach it." He then noticed the little girl in his teammate's arms. "And who's this?" he asked.

Kakashi looked at Zelda. "This is Zelda," he announced, "Zelda, these are my teammates, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai. They are also from the Konoha."

Zelda bowed her head in greeting. "It's nice to meet you," she said in a small voice.

Kurenai walked up to the girl and gave her a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Zelda," she said, "And where are you from? Do you have any family with you?"

Zelda looked up at the sky, the four jounin followed suit. She pointed up. "I'm from a place called Skyloft," she explained, "It's a floating island above the cloud barrier." Unfortunetly for Zelda, there were no clouds in the sky, so the jounin had no idea what she was talking about.

"The Land of the Sky?" Asuma began to suggest, but Kakashi cut him off.

"No, not since the war against the Great Five Countries. The Land of the Sky doesn't exist since Konoha destroyed it," Kakashi explained.

"What is this Konoha?" Zelda asked, looking at the masked ninja, "I'm on the Surface, right?"

The four jounin just looked at her, not knowing what to do. Here they have a 7-year old girl who has no family (assuming), was falling off a cliff, and claims to be from the sky. Kurenai knelt down to Zelda's level.

"Zelda, I'm not sure where this "surface" you're talking about is, but you're in the Fire Country. 5 miles north of Konoha," she explained to the girl.

Zelda's face held a confused look. Why didn't these people know what the Surface was? Surely there would be someone who would know of what she knew. But…the only way for them not to know was if….

Her eyes widened.

…was if she _wasn't_ on the Surface.

"Zelda, can I ask you why you were falling off the cliff?" Kurenai gently asked, noticing that the girl had tensed, "were you being chased?"

Zelda snapped out of her stupor. "No, I wasn't being chased. I jumped off the cliff so I could call my Loft—my Loftwing!" she suddenly exclaimed. She started looking frantically up in the sky.

"You're what?" Asuma asked, his face confused as he tried to understand the word she'd just said.

"My Loftwing!" Zelda repeated, "I was riding my Loftwing with my friend when suddenly a big black tornado appeared in front of us!" She started to explain what happened. "My Loftwing tried to fly away, but we were sucked in! And then the next thing I know, I woke up here!" She continued looking in the sky, trying to feel the presence of her Loftwing.

Kakashi and Kurenai stayed silent, listening to her tale. Asuma only lit another cigarette and started mumbling how he was getting too old for this.

"What's a, Loftwing?" Gai asked, "Is it a summoning animal?"

Zelda gave him a confused look. "Summoning animal? No, we don't summon them," she looked back up at the sky, "Each person in Skyloft is gifted with a guardian bird known as Loftwings. These Loftwings are out lifelong companions and are meant to protect us. They are gifts from the Goddess—oh no!" Something else dawned on her.

"What is it?" Kurenai asked.

"The Goddess's Harp! I've lost it!" she cried. Tears welled up in her eyes. Why did this happen to her?

"It's getting late to search for it now," Kakashi finally spoke up. After much thinking, he finally came to a conclusion. "You can come with us back to the village. There you can rest and maybe figure out your next step from there," he gently told the girl.

His teammates gave him and odd look, well, Asuma and Gai did. Kurenai just nodded in agreement. They couldn't leave a girl her age to fend for herself. She was just a child. Of course, there was always a threat that she was a child prodigy, but then again, she had no traces of a chakra network in her body.

Zelda eyes widened. "Really?" she asked.

Kakashi nodded. His eye crinkled as he smiled through his mask. "Sure, I'll even give you a piggy back ride on the way there."

Zelda smiled and climbed up on the Copy-nin's back when he knelt down. She was as light as a feather to him. After a few minutes being on his back, Zelda had fallen asleep. With all that had happened, receiving her Loftwing, the black tornado, and landing in a place that wasn't the Surface was all too much for her. And in the comfort of another being, she couldn't help but snuggle into his warm back and fall asleep.

"Kakashi, are you we should bring her back with us?" Asuma asked on their way back.

"Asuma, she poses no threat to us," Kurenai defended the girl, "And besides, she has no chakra network, as I'm sure you noticed."

"What if her family is looking for her?" Gai asked. He too thought bringing the girl back wasn't a good idea. Even though she was a child, Gai had his doubts about her. Especially after the story she just told.

"The Third Hokage will know what to do with her," Kakashi stated, "But I agree with Kurenai. I don't see her as a threat to the village."

"Maybe not _her_, but we don't know what she brings with her," Asuma said, "we don't know if she's being hunted or what not."

"All the more reason to take her with us," Kurenai told him.

The crew found themselves in front of Konoha's gates. The guards of the gates Kotetsu and Izumo, two chunins, greeted them.

"Hey Kakashi! I'm guessing your mission went well?" Izumo called out to them. He noticed the girl on Kakashi's back.

"Who's the girl?" Kotetsu, his partner, asked.

Kakashi ignored them and continued his path towards the Hokage's tower. Asuma and Gai followed suit. Kotetsu and Izumo sweatdropped.

"We found her on the outskirts of the village," Kurenai explained, before following her team.

"What's a girl like her doing on the outskirts of the Leaf Village?" Kotetsu asked his partner. Izumo only shrugged

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The 5 arrived at the Hokage's door. Gai knocked on it, since Kakashi's arms were full.

"Come in," an old, gruff voice said.

Gai opened the door for his team.

The team walked in and was greeted by the back of the Hokage's robes. Kurenai went up to Zelda and gently shook her.

"Zelda. Zelda, you need to wake up," she said.

Zelda whimpered, and open her eyes. When she realized she was on someone's back, she immediately woke up.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized before Kakashi let her down.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi greeted.

"Ah, Kakashi," the Third Hokage said as he turned around. He had his pipe in his hand. "You were quite quick with that. I trust that everything was fine?"

"Not quite," Kakashi said as he turned his head towards Zelda, "We found Zelda on the outskirts just north of the village.

The Third Hokage nodded his head. "I see. And where is Zelda from?" he asked.

"She said she's," Kakashi sighed, "from a place called Skyloft, which is a floating island in the sky."

The Third Hokage nodded in understanding. "I'm assuming it's not the Land of the Sky we're talking about," he said.

Kakashi nodded.

Zelda's blue eyes observed the old man curiously. "Who are you?" she asked.

The Third Hokage looked a Zelda for a short while. He turned to Kakashi. "Would you mind giving Zelda and I some time?"

"Of course," Kakashi said before poofing away. Asuma, Gai, and Kurenai followed suit.

"My name is Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of the Leaf Village," he told Zelda once the jounin were gone. He gesture Zelda to sit down. "Would you like to tell me what happened?"

Zelda took a deep breath, and began to tell her story.

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"So what did you decide to do with her?" Kakashi asked the Hokage as they watched from the Hokage's rooftop, Iruka talking with Zelda.

"I will let her stay in the village," the Third Hokage answered, "Although I do not fully understand her story, she is a lost child. I am not one to turn a helpless child away."

Kakashi nodded understandingly. "She has no talent as a shinobi. Where will she live?"

The Third Hokage nodded. He'd been expecting Kakashi to be asking that kind of question. "I've decided to have her stay with Naruto."

"The Kyuubi container? But why?"

"Well, with no family here, she's technically an orphan, "the Third Hokage explained, "And besides, I think it would serve Naruto well to have a friend; someone who is untainted and unaffected by the truth about him. And I know you felt some sort of power emanating from her. It is no chakra, true, but something else that can be equal to it."

They watched as the said-7-year old boy ran up to Iruka and Zelda.

"What happens when she gets older? She can't stay here forever you know," Kakashi pointed out after a while.

"Ah yes," The Hokage sighed as he put his pipe to his lips and took a big breath, "With all the new friends she will make, perhaps she will forget. She is still young, and with all that has happened to her, she might even _want_ to forget."

"You mean she'll be living lie?" Kakashi said dryly, "You plan on erasing her memories or something equal to that?"

The Third Hokage chuckled. "If she asks anything, I will not deny her the answers she has told me," he explained himself, "But…since we have no proof that where she came from actually exists, what am I to do?"

They watched the trio once more. "Either way," he continued, "She needs a place to stay, a sense of security. And unless she asks, I will mention nothing of this day to her." Kakashi just watch the loud-blonde haired boy react to Zelda.

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"Hey! Iruka-sensei! I think it's about that time you treat me to ramen!"

Zelda watched as a loud mouthed, spikey blonde-haired boy with strange whisker markings on his cheeks, run up to Iruka. Zelda liked Iruka. He was a nice man, easy to talk to, and had a great understanding of things.

"Huh?" the boy had noticed her. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, who's that?" he asked the chunin. Zelda tilted her head and gave a small smile to the boy. The boy's eyes widened before he looked away. A faint blush could be seen on his cheeks.

Iruka gently pushed Zelda in front of him. "Naruto, this is Zelda. She's new to the village. Zelda, this is Naruto Uzumaki, a student at the Ninja Academy," Iruka introduce the two.

Naruto looked at Zelda once more. Would she laugh at and shun him as well, like all the other kids? Gathering his courage he stuck out his hand. "Hiya, Zelda! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. And I'm gonna become Hokage someday," he said in a proud voice. Although he sounded hyper on the outside, his eyes had some doubt in them. Did Iruka-sensei really think that this girl would befriend him? No way.

Zelda looked at the hand, and back at the boy. He seemed a bit shy and uncertain. Why was he uncertain? Adorning another smile on her face, Zelda clasped his hand in her own. "It's nice to meet you Naruto Uzumaki," she greeted back.

Surprised, Naruto's blue eyes shot up to meet her own sky blue ones, searching for a lie. He found none. A big smile was on his face.

"Hey, you're pretty cool! Iruka-sensei, is she going to be at the Academy as well?" he asked excitedly to his teacher.

Iruka gave a sad smile as he shook his head. "No, Naruto. Zelda doesn't have any chakra, so she can't. But, she will be living with you."

"WHAT?"

"Lord Hokage asked it as a favor," Iruka explained, "You are to treat her as if she were family."

Naruto blinked. "But…but I've never had a sister before," he said. He turned to look at Zelda who giggled.

"That's okay," she reassured, "I've never had a brother before. But there was this one boy you remind me of, except he wasn't as energetic as you."

Naruto smiled. He turned to Iruka. "Tell gramps that I got it covered," he told the chunins. He then turned to Zelda and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, I'll show you where I live!" he said as he tugged her hand. Zelda happily allowed Naruto to show her around.

"Naruto, wait! We still have to get her…bedding and things," Iruka called after the pair, but they were already gone. He sighed and shook his head. "Well, I guess we could always do that tomorrow." And with that, he started to head towards the Hokage's Tower.

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"And this is the Ichiraku Ramen stand. They have the _best_ ramen in the world!" Naruto proudly showed Zelda the noodle-soup stand. Zelda tiled her head.

"Ramen?" she asked.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "You've never had ramen before?" he asked her in disbelief. She shook her head. "Well, I'll take you there for dinner later," he told her before taking her to his room.

They came to a building. Walking up a couple steps they stopped in front of a door. "And this…is my room," he said as he opened the door, "Soon to be your room as well!"

Zelda slowly walked into his room, observing every detail. It was simple, and definitely had enough space for the both of them. It was different than her room at the Knight's Academy, but she wasn't complaining.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Ehh, it's not much, but it's what I call "home,"" he said.

Zelda turned around and gave him a smile. "It's perfect," she told him. Naruto smiled once more. Maybe things will finally look up for him. He looked at the clock. Dinnertime, at least for Naruto.

"Hey, are you hungry?" he asked Zelda, "If you are, I can take to back to the ramen stand for you to try."

Zelda nodded enthusiastically and she and Naruto practically ran out of his bedroom.

"Hey old man!" he called out to the owner of the ramen stand.

The man looked up and saw Naruto. "Ah, Naruto!" he said with a smile, "I guess it must be dinnertime if you show up at this hour. Would you like the usual?"

Naruto nodded as he and Zelda came in and sat down on the stools. Teuchi, the old man, noticed her.

"Ah, I see you've brought a lady friend," he said.

Naruto, thinking nothing of the statement, could only laugh. "Yeah, this is Zelda. She's new here to the village," he explained, "And when she told me that she's never had ramen before, hehe you bet the first thing I'd do is take her here!"

Teuchi chuckled. "And what will the fair maiden be having?" he asked as he turned his attention on Zelda who was still observing the stand. All the new sights and smells intrigued her.

"Give her the same thing," Naruto answered.

While Teuchi and his daughter got started on making their ramen, Naruto decided to get to know Zelda better.

"So where are you from?" Naruto asked her.

Zelda turned her attention to the boy. "I'm from a place called Skyloft. It resides high above a cloud barrier up in the sky," she explained.

Naruto eyes widened in amazement. "Ohh, like the Land in the Sky?" he asked, "But I thought it was destroyed a long time ago in the Second Shinobi World War?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, it's no Land in the Sky. More like a floating island. There certainly is no history between Skyloft and Konoha," she said.

"Oh, okay. So…you said there was a cloud barrier, huh? How'd you get passed it?" Naruto asked. He immediately regretted it as he saw Zelda's face turn sad.

"Well, no one's ever really been able to go passed the barrier. There are these huge guardian birds known as Loftwings from where I'm from. They can't go through the barrier," she explained, "I came here by accident." She put on a thoughtful look. "And I thought that I had landed on the Surface, which is land below the cloud barrier below Skyloft," she said, "Obviously I'm not there. This isn't what was described in my father's old texts."

Naruto tilted his head. "You have a father?" he asked.

Zelda nodded. "He's the headmaster at the Knights Academy in Skyloft. The Knights Academy is where you learn how to ride a Loftwing and how to fight."

"Oh, so like the Ninja Academy here," Naruto realized, "So…does everyone in Skyloft become a knight?"

Zelda shook her head. "Only those who can win the race in the Wing Ceremony can continue on the path of knighthood," she explained, "but everyone in Skyloft has a Loftwing. They're gifts from the Goddess Hylia, sent to protect us."

Naruto could only nod. He was trying his best to understand everything she told him, but his poor 7-year old mind couldn't handle it. His ears perked up when she started talking again.

"I'm so worried about my Loftwing," Zelda said sadly, "We just met each other and already I've lost her. What if I can't find her ever again? That probably means I can never go back home."

Their ramen was set before them.

"Here you are! Enjoy," Teuchi told them.

Naruto looked at his ramen for a bit before clasping a hand on Zelda's shoulder. She looked at him.

"Hey, don't worry about it Zelda. I'll help you get back home and find your bird friend. Believe it!" he told her.

Zelda looked at the boy in awe. He was so confident; it made her want to believe him. She gave him a soft smile. "Thank you, Naruto," she told him.

Naruto smiled back. "Alright, now time for the ramen," he said turning to the steaming bowl of noodles in front of him. He handed Zelda chopsticks and clasped his hands together. Zelda followed suit.

"Itadakimasu!" he said, before starting to eat. He stopped once he noticed that Zelda had no idea how to work the chopsticks. "Here," he said as he showed her how to use them.

"You move them like this. Yeah, there you go. And you pick it up…yeah!"

Zelda brought the noodles to her mouth and slurped them up. She chewed the noodles slowly, figuring out the taste, which was actually quite good. Her mouth curved upwards in a smile.

Naruto noticed. "Good, huh?" he asked. Zelda nodded her had with a smile, and the two ate their ramen happily.

When they were back in Naruto's room, there were two blankets on the floor with a pillow. She was wearing one of Naruto's t-shirts and shorts as a nightwear.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto reassured her, "Until we get you a bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

Zelda gave him a look. "If you're sure," she said. Naruto nodded.

"I wouldn't be a very good ninja if I can't handle sleeping on the floor," he told her.

Zelda hesitantly got on his bed while Naruto made himself comfortable on the floor. The bed was nice. Not too soft, and not too hard. She lay in his bed, thinking. Finally, she sat up. "Hey, Naruto," she softly called to him.

"Yeah?"

"When we first met, you seemed so…so unsure, like you were afraid of something," Zelda recalled, "Why is that?"

There was a small silence, and Zelda began to think she shouldn't have asked the question. She head Naruto sit up as well and turned to look down at him.

"Everyone…well, mostly everyone…in the village hates me," he began. Zelda's eyes softened. "The other kids won't play with me, some because they hate me, others, because their parents don't want them to," he continued, "They call me a monster, a demon, and look at me…with such hatred."

Zelda's eyes watered as she listened to him. No one, deserves that.

"I don't have any family, none that I can relate to remember," Naruto said, "Iruka-sensei, old man Hokage, and the old man and his daughter from the ramen stand are the closest things I have for a family."

Zelda hopped off the bed and sat down next to him. "And you have me," she told him. Naruto smiled at her before giving her a hug. She returned the hug, and then realized that he was crying. Crying out all his feelings of loneliness and sadness he was enduring as a child. Zelda tightened her hold on her new friend, letting him know that everything will be fine.

**A/N:** Aww…isn't that sweet? Btw, I didn't mean for Sarutobi to sound so mean or something. He just thinks it's in Zelda's best interest, and he obviously wants her to become part of the village (in a good way mind you). Anyway, please review! Or add me to your alert/favorite list!


	3. A New Life in Konoha

**A/N:** I do not own Zelda or Naruto. Just the crossover idea :P

Chapter 3

Zelda woke up on the floor. The covers were over her, but her new friend was nowhere to be seen. She remembered their talk last night, and almost immediately her eyes began to water. Poor Naruto! It must've been very hard for him. She heard Naruto coming in through the door.

"Hey, you're awake!" he greeted, "I didn't want to disturb you, but I needed to do a few things before going to school. Want to walk with me to the Academy? There should be other people there you can meet."

Zelda nodded before getting her clothes. Dress in hand, she stopped and looked at Naruto. "Um…" she started. Naruto turned red.

"Oh right. Uh…I'll just wait for you out here," he said before closing the door.

Once the door was shut, Zelda began changing out of his clothes and into her dress. She looked into his mirror to make sure her hair wasn't a mess. When she was satisfied, she walked out the door to see Naruto sitting down.

"Ready?" he asked her. Zelda nodded before allowing Naruto to lead her to the Ninja Academy.

"Hey Naruto, these classmates of yours, do they also…hate you as well?" Zelda asked as they were walking.

Naruto put a finger to his chin. "Well…no, at least I don't think so," he said, "I have _some_ friends there. But their parents never let them play with me."

They could see children playing in the front of the Ninja Academy, some of their parents watching them. Zelda felt the air between her and Naruto grow slightly heavy as they neared the academy. She looked at him and saw that he had a wary expression on his face. It was as if he was preparing himself for another day of loneliness and sadness.

Naruto led Zelda to a tree that had a swing attached to one of its branches. He went over to the swing and sat down, Zelda standing at his side.

"You know," he said after a while, "this is kinda weird. I'm not use to having someone with me at the academy. I'm usually all alone."

Zelda gave him a small smile before turning her attention to the other children. "So, who are the people in your class? Are they out there?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, most of them are anyway," he said, "The guy with the pineapple shaped hair is Shikamaru Nara." He pointed to the young boy who was spread out on the ground, dozing. "His clan has all these jutsus that involve using shadows," he explained, "They also know a lot about medicines, so the village often relies on them for any poisons and things like that."

He then pointed to another boy who sat next to Shikamaru. The other boy was chubby, and was snacking on a bag of chips.

"That guy there, is Chouji Akimichi," Naruto said, "I'm not sure what his family is known for, but they're well known throughout the village." He narrowed his eyes. "How a person like him got into the academy, beats me," he added.

The sound of barking got both kids' attention. They saw a young boy playing a game of chase with a small, white puppy that had patches of brown on it.

"Who's that?" Zelda asked.

"That's Kiba Inuzuka with his dog Akamaru," Naruto said, "His clan is known for their relationships with dogs. Each clansman is paired up with a dog."

Zelda nodded. "Like how each person in Skyloft is paired up with a Loftwing," she said.

"Sort of," Naruto said. He watched the three boys for a while before adding, "Those three, are probably the only true friends I have here in the village."

Zelda spotted a girl with her hair in two buns, and a chinese-like outfit talking to what she thought was a boy with very long hair, and pupiless lavender eyes.

"Who are they?"

Naruto looked to where Zelda was looking. "Oh, that's Tenten. Nothing special about her except she uses a lot of weapon and sealing techniques," he explained, "The guy with the long hair and freaky eyes is Neji Hyuuga. I uh…don't know much about him. He usually doesn't like to talk. But he's related to Hinata Hyuuga. I forget what they're clan was known for though…"

Zelda noticed a small bug on her shoulder, and gently waved it away. She watched as it flew away from her and towards a young boy with a high collard jacket, and sunglasses. He was net to another boy, who bore thick eyebrows and was trying to get the boy with sunglasses to train with him.

"Come on Shino!" the thick-eyebrowed boy urged the boy with the sunglasses, "I need someone to practice taijutsu with me so that I may get stronger."

Zelda looked at Naruto for names. "The fuzzy-eyebrowed weirdo is Rock Lee. And the bug freak is Shino Aburame," Naruto answered, "Lee has no chakra network, which makes me wonder how a guy like him could be a ninja. Shino's clan involves, you got it, bugs. It's similar to Kiba's clan, as far as having relationships with animals."

"Naruto, I've noticed that even though people refer you as a freak or monster, you call other kids freaks and idiots," Zelda commented.

Naruto shrugged. Zelda continued, "Don't you think, that if you don't like to be called a freak, other people don't like it either?" Naruto put a finger to his chin.

"Hm…I never thought of it that way. It's just what I think of them. And besides, everyone else does it," he told her.

Zelda just shook her head. How confusing he was. Oh well, maybe that's just how he is. She heard another sound of a bark and noticed the small puppy running towards her. Zelda knelt down to pet the pup.

"Hello there!" she giggled as he stoked the puppy on his head. Akamaru only gave a small "woof "as she petted him. He was enjoying the attention so much that he didn't hear his master call for him.

"Akamaru! Akamaru where are you?" Kiba called before finally spotting the pup by Naruto and Zelda. "There you are!" he huffed as he ran over to them, "Hey Naruto, who's the girl?" He had smelt her long before Akamaru decided to abandon him.

"This is Zelda, she's new to the village," Naruto said. A cheesy smile made its way up to his face. "She's living with me."

"No way! There must have been some mistake," Kiba exclaimed, "How someone could live with you is beyond me!"

"Hey!"

Zelda giggled at the two boys. Suddenly, Iruka came out of the academy and called all the genin. Naruto bid Zelda good-bye, telling her that they'd meet up after class, before leaving with Kiba. Not knowing what else to do, Zelda sat on the unoccupied swing.

She turned her head to see that the Third Hokage had suddenly appeared beside her.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Good morning, Zelda. I trust your night went well?" The Third Hokage asked, bringing the pipe up to his mouth.

Zelda nodded. "Yes, very much," she answered, "I feel bad that Naruto had to sleep on the floor though."

The Third Hokage chuckled. "Yes, Iruka had told me about that. But don't worry, that's why I cam here to see you," he told her, "I wanted to invite you to spend a day with me. I'll go take you to get your own bed and other necessities."

Zelda's eyes widened. As happy and thrilled she was, how was she ever going to repay the kind man back?

"Oh thank you so much, sir!" she exclaimed, "But how will I ever pay you back?"

"Think of it as a gift. After all, as the Third Hokage of this village, it is my duty to see that everyone in the village is safe and happy," he told her. He then beckoned her to follow him, and the two got started with their day.

He had bought her a bed (blankets and pillows as well) and a wardrobe (with a new set of clothes). They stopped at a small restaurant for lunch.

"Thank you so much, sir," Zelda said as they waited for the food.

"My pleasure," he said back.

A long pause came between them. When their food came, they ate in silence.

"Sir, I have something to ask you about," Zelda finally spoke up. The Third Hokage raised his eyebrows. "It's about Naruto," Zelda added. He then gave a small sigh before sitting back in his chair.

"Why is it," she started, "That Naruto is hated so much by the people in the village?"

He had expected her to ask this question. Naruto must have told her about his life in the village. Now the question was, should he tell her the truth or not? He looked into her wide, sky blue eyes. Yes. He'd tell her. He'd tell her because he believed that her heart would look past of what he was about to tell her.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Son of Kushina Uzumaki, the carrier of a great demon known as the Nine-tailed Fox, and also the son of Konoha's great Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage: Minato Namikaze," he began.

"After being extracted from his mother, Kushina, the great Nine-Tailed Fox Demon was taken controlled by a shinobi by the name of Tobi, who tried to use the Fox Demon in order to destroy the Leaf Village. Fortunately, Minato came just in time to repel the attack and save the village. But at a terrible cost. Minato sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails within Naruto, his own son, thinking that someday, it would help Naruto during Konoha's great time of need. When the demon realized what had happened, it tried to kill Naruto, only to be met by Minato and Kushina who used their own bodies as shields to protect their son."

There was a slight pause.

"Minato's last wish before his death, was that Naruto be looked up as a hero, and not as the container of a demon that had caused so much death and destruction," he said as he rested his head against the top of his hands, "And I have no doubt that you know that that wish was not been fulfilled."

There was a long pause. Zelda was staring at her food, absorbing all that the Third Hokage had told her. Finally, she spoke up.

"It's not fair."

The Third Hokage gave her a look.

"It's not fair," she repeated, "Naruto doesn't deserve the hatred he's receiving from these people."

The Third Hokage inwardly gave a sigh of relief. He was right about her.

"Naruto didn't _want_ to be the container. He had no choice," she continued, "Things like that, are out of our control. You can't choose who your parents are, you can't choose which clan you're born into, and you _certainly_ can't choose being the only person who would have a demon sealed inside them."

"My dear, please do not blame Naruto's father for his suffering."

Zelda shook her head. "I'm not," she said, "If anyone is to blame, it would be the people who can't move on in the past. My father told me once, "The past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it…or learn from it." And then bonked me on the head. It hurt, slightly, and I asked him why he did it. But he only laughed and said that it didn't matter, it was in the past." She paused before smiling. "You can bet that the next time he went to bonk my head, I avoided it."

The Third Hokage smiled at the blonde-haired girl. Perhaps she would be a key person in Naruto's life, and hopefully, a key for peace in the world of a shinobi.

He looked at the sky. It was about time for Naruto's class to end.

"Well, I should take you back to the academy," he said, "I'm sure Naruto will want to see you." And with that, he led the young girl back to the Academy, just as Naruto's class was being released.

"I would love to stay here and talk to you some more, but I have other work to do," The Third Hokage told her, "Hokage stuff." He paused before leaving. "Oh, and one more thing," he told her, "Don't tell Naruto about his heritage. I fear that it will only bring more suffering to him." Zelda nodded, understanding his request, before he disappeared.

Naruto watched as the Third Hokage disappeared from Zelda's side. Upon seeing Zelda, he got excited.

"Zelda!" he cried as he saw her and ran up to her.

"Hi Naruto!" she chirped as he ran up to her, "How was your class?"

He shrugged.

"It was okay. Iruka-sensei told us that soon, we'll be able to take the exam to graduate from the Academy!" he told her excitedly. As excited as he was, he quickly became solemn. "But, I've failed all the tests we had at least once."

Zelda put a hand on his shoulder. "But you'll get another chance right?" she asked gently.

"I don't know…maybe?" Naruto answered. He looked up into Zelda's smiling face.

"Then that's all you need," she said, "As long as they're willing to give you another chance, you'll have time to make better preparation and learn from your mistakes from your first try."

Naruto smiled at her comforting words. He placed his hand over hers.

"That's right. As soon as I graduate from the academy, I'll be one step closer on becoming Hokage. Believe it!"

888Time Shift88888

_Five years later…_

It was another day in Konoha, and the sun was shining bright. Everyone in Rookie 9 had graduated from the Ninja academy. Naruto was no exception. Although he failed the initial test, as he couldn't properly create a clone of himself, he was falsely told by a shinobi named Mizuki, that he could have another chance to pass if he managed to steal a particular scroll. Naruto, naive as he was, went a head and did as he was told. Naruto told Zelda, who did not approve, of his plan.

"I have to prove to them that I'm worthy of graduating from the academy!" Naruto insisted to Zelda, who had been living with him for about a year now.

"Naruto, they said you would be given another chance," she pointed out.

"Yeah, _next year_! I can't afford to waste a year of my life learning things I've already been taught!" he countered.

Zelda sighed. He just wouldn't listen! Don't get her wrong, she understood where Naruto was coming from, but something fishy was going on with this Mizuki guy. It didn't make any sense that Naruto would have to go after a scroll. The scroll from the Hokage's residence no less!

"Still…" Zelda trailed off.

"I need to do this. I need to do it, for me."

Zelda looked at Naruto for a while. "Alright," she sighed as she gave in, "_But_, if this happens to hurt you more than help you, I won't hesitate to tell someone."

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry about it. The next time you see me, I'll be wearing the Leaf Village forehead protector! Believe it!"

Unfortunetly for Zelda, after she heard that Mizuki had been involved with some theft, she put two and two together and quickly told Iruka. And Iruka, realizing what had happened, went after Naruto to save him. Naruto ended up saving Iruka from Mizuki, by executing the Shadow Clone jutsu, a B-rank level jutsu. Iruka acknowledge Naruto for being able to create a perfect clone of himself _and_ executing a B-rank jutsu, and rewarded him by letting him graduate and gave him the Konoha forehead protector. Naruto got an earful the next time he saw Zelda…

…but at least he was right about Zelda seeing him with his newly acquired forehead protector.

After passing the academy, Naruto, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, was placed under the instruction of Konoha's infamous Copy-nin, Kakashi Hatake. This was the same man who had saved Zelda from her fall a year ago. She was surprised to learn that Kakashi had been assigned as Naruto's teacher, and was doubly surprised when he remembered her name.

"You remember me?" she asked in disbelief.

Kakashi turned his lone-eye away from his orange book to look at her. "Well, yes. How could I forget the lovely maiden I saved from her plummeting death?" he teased. Zelda's pale cheeks stained with a light blush. It was the team's day off from training, and the trio was at the ramen stand, mostly because of Naruto. Zelda had a fortunate luck of finding Kakashi on a tree branch, reading his perverted books.

"Kakashi, I heard that from Asuma and the others that you've never passed any of your teams in the past. Why is that?" she asked.

Kakashi was silent at first. Like the Third Hokage, he was contemplating telling the girl the truth. It wasn't normal for the Copy-nin to just open himself up to any bystander who happened to be in the same area as him. But still, there was something about the girl that intrigued him. And the girl, as young as she was, possessed an impeccable skill for understanding the most eccentric and puzzling things. Something that a normal 12-year old would not be able to do. Not at that age. Sure, the Nara prodigy had an IQ of 102, but even he wouldn't know the meaning to life.

He pocketed the little orange book and gave Zelda his full attention, his eye serious. He had made a decision.

"The reason I failed all of my past teams, is because they failed to understand the most important thing about being a shinobi," he explained. Zelda waited for him to continue. "Friendship," he continued. "I had to learn this the hard way. After the suicidal death of my father, Konoha's White Fang, I vowed to strictly live by the Ninja's Code, which states that a shinobi was to only reach the goal of the mission, no matter what. That includes losing a comrade. A close friend of mine taught me otherwise."

He looked up at the sky. Zelda followed suit, and when she looked up at the sky, she felt nostalgic. She didn't know why, but she felt a connection. Since when did looking the sky feel so familiar?

" "Those who break the rules, and regulations are considered scum," he told me, "But…those who abandon their comrades, are worse than scum." Either way, if he were going to be considered scum, he'd rather break the rules," Kakashi continued. He looked at Zelda. "The reason my past teams have failed is because all of them had abandoned one of their comrades. That, in my book, is considered unworthy of passing."

Zelda nodded. "I see," she said, "Losing a friend is not worth completing the mission."

Kakashi merely nodded. "So," he said as he changed the subject, "Any leads on how to get back home?"

Zelda gave him a blank stare before a light bulb went off in her head. Home. Skyloft. Sky. That's why it was familiar. Her home was Skyloft, so it makes sense that the looking at the sky would feel familiar. There was another reason, but she couldn't remember…why couldn't she remember?

"Oh, I had almost forgotten about that," she said with a small smile, "No, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get back to Skyloft. I just don't know how. It's a floating island…right?" She looked at Kakashi.

Inwardly, Kakashi was surprised. Had the Third Hokage been right after all? Had Zelda been integrated within their village, so much that she had forgotten where she had come from? She didn't mention anything about her bird, so maybe she forgot about that part completely. How long has it been since that incident? 5 years at the least right?

"Well, I'm here if you ever need any help," Kakashi said as his eye crinkled in a smile.

"Why do you always wear a mask?" Zelda quickly asked as the thought came to her.

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know, I've worn it ever since I was a kid. It's comfortable though," he answered as he pulled out his little orange book.

Zelda made a move to leave, but stop as Kakashi spoke to her again.

"Oh, and Zelda. Please don't tell Naruto or the others about my secret. The point is for _them_ to learn it."

Zelda only nodded, before heading off to find the trio again. She found them accompanied by Team Gai, which consisted of Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji Hyuuga. The other teams were Team Kurenai with Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka and Team Asuma with Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara. What Zelda found amusing, was that Team Asuma was a miniature version of Team Ino-Shika-Cho. Their parents had been on the same team.

Zelda's meeting with the other shinobi from Rookie 9 had been interesting. For instance, when she met Rock Lee in person, he about fell in love with her…if it weren't for the fact that he was helplessly in love with Sakura Haruno.

"Behold! The golden blossom of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!" he announced as he saw Zelda walk by. Zelda, who was startled by his outburst, looked at him. "May I ask your name fair maiden?" he got down on one knee, holding one of her hands in his.

Zelda, who giggled at his display responded, "My name is Zelda. You must be Rock Lee."

"Zelda! Your name fits you. It has a beauty and elegant feel to it, which is how you are as a person," he told her as he stood up. He blushed as he got a better look at her. "If it were not for my love being reserved for Konoha's cherry blossom, I would ask you to give me the honor of being your boyfriend."

Zelda's own cheeks stained with a blush. Sure he had weird eyebrows that some people were creeped out by, but she thought he was actually quite handsome, not to mention chivalrous. She'd take a good personality over looks any day. When Lee had told her his life's hardships, Zelda's admiration for him only grew.

"That's amazing," she told him, "You proving to the world that chakra shouldn't be the only thing a shinobi is known for is just incredible. Good for you!" She gave him an eye-smile. "Konoha can expect great things from you."

The taijutsu expert could only blush at her praise. It was through Lee that Zelda was able to meet Konoha's cherry blossom, Sakura Haruno, and Konoha's byakugan genius Neji Hyuuga.

Zelda's meeting with Sakura Haruno had been…odd. It was her first time seeing a person with bubblegum pink hair. She certainly wasn't what Zelda thought she would be. She felt that Sakura had a lot of potential, but wasted it on trying to become "girly."

"Wow, you're hair is so soft and shiny!" Sakura commented on Zelda's yellow gold lockes.

"Your hair is too," she complemented back.

Sakura raked a finger through her long, pink tresses. "I worked hard at it. It wasn't easy let me tell you."

Zelda cocked her head at the pink-haired girl. "You know, if you didn't spend so much time on how you looked…." She trailed off. She didn't want to anger the kounoichi. Sakura waved her hand.

"But I have to," she insisted, "Otherwise, how else will I get the attentions of Sasuke?"

Zelda sighed. Girl crushes. Thank god she didn't go through them. Sure she thought Sasuke was handsome, but, there was so much hatred within his heart, that Zelda immedietly decided to be cautious around him. Needless to say, she didn't think he was _that_ cool, even if he came from one of Konoha's strongest clan.

"I'm sure Sasuke would prefer a girl who can take care of herself, and who's strong," Zelda said in a thoughtful voice. And she left it at that, leaving Sakura to ponder by herself.

Neji Hyuuga was a different story. It was hard talking to the boy, who only saw her a citizen and nothing else. It was almost as if he considered her unworthy to talk to him.

"You're interrupting my training," he told her one-day.

"Your heart," she began, "Hold so much bitterness."

Neji only scoffed at her statement. "I wouldn't expect a person like _you_ to understand. Someone who just showed up out of no where," he scowled.

Zelda only smiled at his harsh words. "Oh, but I do. I've heard lots of stories about you, Neji Hyuuga," she said, "About how you were born into the branch part of your clan, your role being to guard and protect the head members."

"Yes, well, it _is_ my destiny to _live and serve_ the Hyuuga's main branch," he spat, "Just like it is Naruto's destiny to fail as a shinobi."

Zelda frowned at the mention of Naruto. "And why do you think that?" she asked, her voice held an edge to it.

Neji smirked at her. "Once a failure, _always a failure_. You can't change your fate, no matter how hard you try."

Zelda closed her eyes, and opened them. "But it is because of those hardships and failures that you become who you are. Without obstacles, how can you expect a person to grow?" Zelda pointed out, "And maybe one can't change their fate, because they _allow_ fate to dictate who they are. The way you put it, it seems like you're only a puppet, a doll, for fate's amusement."

Neji's gaze hardened. "I don't take advice from a _woman_," he commented, "_I_ should be the heir to the Hyuuga clan. The only reason why that pathetic, weak, cousin of mine is, was because her _father _was born a few seconds a head of mine!"

"You should be glad you have someone to protect," Zelda interrupted him, "You find your true strength in people you wish to protect. I pity you Neji. You push away the people who will help you grow stronger. But I guess it can't be helped, if it really is your _fate_."

And with that, she walked away from the fuming Hyuuga prodigy.

Her run-ins with the other ninjas were sort of similar. Ino Yamanaka had the same conversation that Sakura had with her. Kiba and Shino were just….odd and awkward to be around, but she thought they were nice nonetheless. Hinata Hyuuga was the sweetest but the shyest person that Zelda had ever met. If Hinata wasn't so shy and timid, she would become a great kounoichi. Lastly, Shikamaru and Chouji amused Zelda to no end. Shikamaru was probably the laziest person that Zelda had ever known. Always cloud-watching, dreaming. Kinda reminded her of another person, but she couldn't pin-point who it was. And Chouji, although a big eater, was very sweet and loved telling Zelda all the great restaurants in the village. Zelda had found out, through an incident that didn't involve her, that calling Chouji fat was a death warrant to anyone. Good thing she had no intention of calling him that.

Anyway, back to Naruto. He and his team had passed the test to become a genin. Kakashi had the three ninjas try to take the bells off his belt. There were only two. Naruto had apparently fallen for a lot of lousy traps that a normal ninja would avoid. The last prank involved Naruto being tied to a wooden post, and his punishment was not being allowed to eat lunch. Both Sakura and Sasuke quickly realized, that by working as a team, they would be able to get the bells, but not if Naruto didn't eat.

So when they tried to feed Naruto, Kakashi passed them, saying that the trio understood the bonds between teammates and allowed them to officially become genin.

Their first mission was C-rank mission, which involved them escorting a bridge builder to back to the Land of the Waves. They're mission was a success, but Naruto came back a lot stronger than before, and Zelda noticed.

"You seem, different," she commented.

"Yeah, well I feel different. I can't believe that we could've almost lost Sasuke," Naruto said, "And you know, despite running into these bad people Zabuza and Haku, I still like them. I realize, that all shinobi are the same…in a way." He scratched the back of his neck shyly. "Ehh, what am I saying?" he laughed.

Zelda could only smile. One thing was for sure…Naruto was growing up.

Team Kakashi were given a few simple missions before they were ready to take up the Chunin exams. The first part was written, which Naruto was nervous for. Fortunately for him, he ended up passing, even though he didn't write anything but his name on his paper.

"I can't believe you didn't answer a _single_ question, and you _still_ passed!" Zelda exclaimed.

"Yeah well, turns out they _wanted_ us to cheat, in a quiet way," Naruto explained, "It's away to sort the real deal from the amateurs hehe."

There was a slight pause.

"So what did you think of the genin from the Sand Village?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence, "That Gaara kid. He just seems like a big bully to me."

Zelda shrugged. "You never know," she said, "People like that…must have endured something so traumatic for them to turn out the way they are. I don't believe that he's a killer though, no matter how many times he's threatened to kill Konohamaru."

"Well anyway, the next test involves us going to the Forest of Death! Cool huh? And then after that is the preliminary round where we get to fight each other. Those who win from the prelims are on to the finals. And there we fight for the title of chunin!" Naruto exclaimed, getting excited as he started explaining the next few days.

"Just be careful," Zelda said as she smiled at her hyper friend.

But what she didn't know, was that the next few days would be the most crucial days of her live.

**A/N:** OOOOOOOOH what's gonna happen? Haha, did you like this one as well? I hope some of you saw that "Lion King" reference. For you classic Disney deprived folks, it's the scene where Rafiki talks to Simba about the past, and learning from it. I'm surprised I got through it all of this. Anyway, R&R….or if you don't want to, add me to your favorite/alert story list! Thanks! Btw, Orochimaru and Ghirahim will make their appearance in the next chapter.


	4. The Chunin exams: The Forest of Death

**A/N:** I do not own Naruto or Zelda…just the idea for the crossover :P

You know, it would be nice for one review once in a while. I know it can be too much to do, cause even I'm too lazy to review sometimes. But I now realize that reviews are one of the things that keeps writers going. But for those who have added this story to their favorite/alert story list, thank you very much! It means a lot to me.

Anyway….ON WITH THE SHOW….Story….fanfic…..whatever…

Chapter 4

All the other genin who had passed Ibiki's test were all waiting outside the gates of the Forest of Death. Everyone from Rookie 9 was gathered somewhat together. Zelda was with Team 7, wanting to congratulate them for passing the first test, and wish them luck for the second part. She observed all the ninja who had passed. There were other genin from the Leaf Village, genin from the Sand Village, genin from the Village Hidden in the Grass, genin from the Village Hidden in the Rain, and many more.

The exam's instructor, Anko, was waiting somewhat patiently in front of the gates. Sakura looked at forest, chills going down her spine.

"Ugh…this whole place just completely creeps me out," she commented.

Anko grinned, "It should. They call it the Forest of Death, and soon enough, you're gonna find out why."

At that statement, Naruto made a face. He put his hands on his hips and stuck out his butt. "Hmph! "They call it the Forest of Death, and soon enough you're gonna find out why," " he said in a mocking voice, "Do your worst! You're not gonna scare me! Believe it!"

Zelda only shook her head at her friend's antics, while his teammates gave him a funny look.

"Naruto," Sasuke began, "You're such a loser." Which prompted a huge lecture and fight from Naruto.

Zelda smiled at the two. Throughout the years, he has made better friendships with some of the Rookie 9 genin, and it pleased her. It pleased her to know that people were finally started to see Naruto in a different light…shinobi at least. The people of the village still had trouble accepting him.

She looked up at the sky as she remembered lecturing the Older Nara about Naruto. It was back when she had first come to the Leaf Village, and after The Third Hokage had told her about Naruto's past. She and Naruto were playing by the playground, other kids around them. Although some of them had insisted that Zelda play with them instead of Naruto, she politely declined them. In retaliation, the kids began to tease Zelda as well, but she took it with a grain of salt.

When Shikamaru and Chouji wanted to play with the pair as well, their dads appeared; telling them it was time to go home. But Zelda knew better. She knew that the parents didn't want their sons to associate himself with the demon carrier. But, she also sensed that Shikmaru's dad was a lot smarter than he seemed. There had to be something else as well.

Just as Shikamaru was about to drag himself to his father, partly because he was too lazy to move, Zelda had stopped him and walked up to his father herself.

"That's not very nice," Zelda had told the head of the Nara clan, who only gave her a confusing look.

"His mother is looking for him. Are you telling me that it's not nice that I want to bring my son home?" the older Nara asked, slightly amused by the 7-year old girl's accusation.

Zelda's eyes gazed into dark ones. "No, it's not nice that you would not want your son to associate himself with the so called "monster" of the village," she stated. Shikaku Nara's eyes widened. This girl, even though she knew the boy's dilemma, was willing to defend him? Not that he was complaining, but most of the children he saw steered clear of the fox demon's container.

"Naruto…he didn't have a say in the matter," she continued, "And yet you all blame him for it. Shun him, for something he didn't have any control over." She looked back at Naruto. "It's not like he asked for any of this," she murmured so that only the older man could hear her, "You seem like a smart man. You'd have to be if you're that kid's father."

The Head of the Nara Clan was speechless. Sure the Third Hokage had told him a little bit about the girl, but he had no idea that she was _that _mature. How could a child at her age understand something like that? Instead of doing what the "normal" children were doing, which was to run away from the boy, she befriending the fox demon container and was defending him, telling _him_, a _jounin_ and elite shinobi of the Leaf village, how to treat other people!

He bent down to the girl's level. "Young lady, I realize that what I'm doing is wrong," he told her, "But, it's not what you think." He paused in his statement. What a drag! How could he explain to her?

"It's complicated…" he finally said.

"What's so complicated? The fact that you don't want your son to be mistreated for befriended the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon's carrier?" Zelda asked. She knew where he was going, and she couldn't help but pity the father. Every parent wants to protect their kid…but…but this was no excuse! Shikamaru was a smart boy, and he's so lazy that he probably could care less of what other kids thought of them. Either way, he'd come up with a perfect strategy for revenge later.

Shikaku Nara only sighed as he looked at the sky. Man, women were so troublesome!

By this time, Shikamaru had made his way over to his father and Zelda. All he had done was lay on the ground and cloud watch with Naruto, but when he noticed Zelda talking to his dad, he wanted to know what was up.

"Dad…what're you guys talkin about?" he said through a yawn.

Shikaku kept his eyes on Zelda, who returned his gaze. "I was just asking Zelda how she liked it here in Konoha," he finally said, "And she was explaining to me that her favorite part of it was that kid, Naruto, you always hang out with."

Zelda gave a small smile. She'll settle for that.

"Oh, him? Yeah, he's not so bad. I don't understand why people don't like him though," he said lazily, "I will tell you though, he's at the low of our class."

Shikaku merely nodded his head before getting ready to head out. "Hm…well, maybe that will change in time," he said before gesturing to his son to come with, "It was nice to meet you…."

"Zelda, sir."

"Well, it was nice to meet you Zelda. I'm Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru's father and the head of the Nara clan," he smiled at Zelda, "I can see that Shikamaru will have many great friends in his life." And with that, he and Shikamaru left the playground.

What Zelda had said to Shikaku, really made Shikaku look at life a bit differently. Of course, he never thought of Naruto as a monster, but he was human. He couldn't erase the fact that the boy held the great demon that had done so much damage to the village. But with the help of Zelda, he wasn't so worried anymore. And hopefully, the village will understand that too.

Zelda smiled at the memory. She looked at Naruto and Sasuke, who were now turned away from each other, arms crossed. She giggled. Some things will never change.

_Zelda…_

A faint voice whispered.

Zelda whipped around, trying to figure out who called her name. Suddenly, a faint melody was heard, echoing in the wind. It was if someone was singing.

"What…?" Zelda whispered to herself.

_Zelda…_

There it was again! Zelda scanned the crowd frantically. Who was calling her? And why did she feel a strange pull from it?

"Hm? Zelda, what's wrong?" Naruto had noticed Zelda looking around herself, confused.

Zelda looked at him. "Don't…don't you hear it?" she asked him in disbelief.

Naruto looked at her kinda funny. "Hear what? I don't hear anything."

"The music. Don't you hear music?" Zelda figured that the voice only called to her. But surely other people could hear the music.

Naruto cocked his head before scratching it. "Uhh…I don't hear any music, Zelda," he said, "Unless you consider all the insect sounds…music."

"You're probably just tired," Sakura suggested, "Didn't you mention that you hadn't been sleeping well?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Naruto commented as a light bulb went off in his head.

Zelda furrowed her eyebrows. It was true that she hadn't been sleeping well for the past couple of nights. But even she wouldn't get this delirious!

"Yeah but…" but that was as far as she got. Anko was getting ready for the exam to start.

"Whatever it is, we can worry about it later. Right now, we need to concentrate on the second part of the exam," Sasuke said coolly as he passed out papers to his teammates.

Each person was given either the Earth or Heaven Scroll. They're goal was to acquire whichever scroll they didn't have, resulting the team in having both scrolls. The point of was that they didn't have teachers or outside sources to help them. They had 5 days in the Forest of Death. A test of survival.

"Alright! Go to your appointed gates!" Anko called out.

"Whatever it is, Zelda, I'm sure it's nothing," Naruto told her, "Anyway, just hang out until we get out of this."

Zelda sighed and wished her friends good luck as they disappeared. As they disappeared, she heard the serene melody again, but could only look on. Wherever it was coming from, she wouldn't look for it on her own.

Just as she was about to leave, she heard a strangled cry. Sensing immediate danger, she quickly ran towards the source of it, ducking underneath a bush as she watched the seen before her play out.

She saw a snake-like looking man looking down at two dead genin, genin who were from the Village Hidden in the Grass. The man had blood stained on his clothes, and a snake like tongue hung out of his mouth, wrapped around a kunai that was also dripping with blood. Zelda gasped as she saw the man's face.

His face was pale, and sickly looking, and he had waist-length black hair that only amplified the paleness of his skin. His eyes, which scared Zelda the most, were amber, and had slits in his pupils, like a snake. Surrounding his eyes were purple markings, increasing his snake-like appearance.

He was flanked by two other ninjas that Zelda could assume to be allied with the snake man. She watched in horror as the two other ninjas executed a jutsu that caused them to look exactly like the ninja the snake-man had just killed. She cleared her mind as soon as he began to talk.

"Now that we our ticket into the foresssst. Our mission is-s-s to track down the Uchiha boy," he spoke to his henchman, "They can't be very hard to find, considering…he has-s-s that loudmouthed blonde-haired boy on his team." He paused for a second. "Once we find them…we attack. But leave the Uchiha to me. Do _not_ kill him," he continued, "The main purpose-s-s-s is that I put the curse seal on him. Am I clear?"

"SIR!"

And then, he made a gesture with his hand, and the snake-man's face changed! Zelda covered her mouth to prevent her gasp from being heard. She had to go tell someone! No, telling someone would be wasting time. She had to go warn Naruto and the others!

But she was not a shinobi. She could be killed going into the Forest of Death like that. But…it's for the sake of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and everyone else who could be endangered.

So she went in.

88888888

_Somewhere else…_

"Anko, we've found three dead bodies within the outskirts of the village," Kotetsu said to her.

He, Izumo, and Mozuku were all in a room Anko, with three dead bodies on the floor.

"Whose shinobi were they?" Anko asked.

"Village Hidden in the Grass, ma'am," Izumo replied.

Anko took a closer look at the dead shinobi. When she looked at their faces, she gasped. They had no faces. It was if someone had just taken them. And only one person she knew had the technique to do that. One particular former teacher of hers.

"You three take your posts up here," she ordered the three chunin, "Something has been brought to my attention."

And she headed into the Forest of Death, revenge on her mind.

88888888

_In the Forest of Death…_

"Okay…so maybe I _should've_ told someone," Zelda murmured to herself as she walked through the creepy forest.

It was humid, slightly dark, and silent. Only the sounds of birds and insects could be heard. She had barely escaped two teams of genin, one of which had already spotted her and she had to outwit them.

Her problem was that the Forest of Death was a _vast_ forest, and that the trio she was looking for could be _anywhere_.

"Even in his loudness, I don't think I'd be able to hear him," she told herself as she looked around her. She suddenly froze as the faint melody was heard again.

'What is that song?' she thought to herself. Suddenly she heard Sasuke's cry, and quickly followed the voice. She found him against Sakura, unconscious. She was too late. The snake man had gotten to him.

Knowing that she couldn't do anything else, she made her way back to the forest gates…or at least she _attempted_ to.

"Man, how big can this place get?" she asked herself. Her search was cut short as she heard voices.

"He's created a wall of sand!" she heard a guy's voice cry out.

"That's right. It's a defense, and nothing can get through it," another guy's voice was heard.

Zelda quietly ran over to where the voices came from, hiding behind a tree with a bush next to it.

"He carries all that sand in the gourd he has on his back," she saw a guy dressed in black and purple paint on his face continue, "And when he's attacked, he uses the power of his chakra to harden the sand.

The purple face-painted guy was with a girl with blonde hair that was tied into four pigtails. They were confronted by three genin from the Village Hidden in the Rain. The last figure was hidden by sand, and had multiple needles sticking to it. Zelda could just barely see the red hair that flashed from the opening of the sand barrier. When she saw the boy's face within the barrier, she gasped.

It was the same boy she and Naruto had met earlier.

She was walking around the village looking for Naruto when suddenly she heard him scream along with the screams of three other children. She arrived just in time to see Konohamaru, the Third Hokage's grandson, picked up in a threatening way by a strange guy dressed in black with weird purple paint on his face. He had something wrapped in bandages on his back.

"So," he said, "Does this hurt, punk?" He tightened his grip on the poor boy.

"Put him down Kankuro, or you'll pay for it later," the girl next to him said. She was a bit taller, with blonde hair that was put into four pigtails. She had a big fan on her back.

Sakura decide to speak up. "Hey, I'm sorry. The whole thing was my fault," she explained, but on the inside she was a bit scared.

"You better take your hands off him right now!" Naruto demanded.

"We got a few minutes before he gets here," Kankuro pointed out, "Let's mess with these punks, heh?"

"You know, you're not giving us a good impression of the Sand Village," Zelda spoke up. She recognized the sign on their forehead protectors.

Kankuro looked at Zelda, eyeing her up and down. "Hmph, I guess the Leaf Village makes up for the lack of strong shinobi with beautiful girls, huh?" he said with a smirk.

Zelda narrowed her sky-blue eyes at him.

That's when Konohamaru began to struggle. "Put me down you big jerk!" he shouted.

Kankuro shifted his attention back him. "Hmm, you're feisty," he commented. He gave an evil grin, "But not for long."

Naruto had just enough of the guy. He ran at him, preparing to punch him. "PUT…HIM…DOWN!"

But before he could get any closer, Naruto felt something grab one of his legs causing him to fall on his butt. "What the…what was that?"

"You're a leaf genin too?" he said in a dry voice, "Looks like you're village is full of wimps. It makes me wonder how girls like you live here." He looked at Zelda again who held her glare.

"That's it! If you don't put him down, I'm gonna take you apart! You got that, fool?" Naruto shouted at him. Sakura quickly covered Naruto's mouth and put him in a headlock.

"You're the fool! Making friends isn't going to help, Naruto!" she growled at her teammate.

Kankuro just looked at them. "You're annoying. All of you," he told them, "I don't like runts, or any other scrawny weaklings. So when a wimp like _this_ starts shooting off his mouth." He tightened his hold on Konohamaru who gave a cry. "It just makes me want to break him in half."

Naruto and the others gasped.

Temari sighed. "Fine, but I'm not involved with any of this."

"First, I'll take care of this little squirt. Then I'll take the other one," Kankuro decided as he pulled his other hand back for a punch.

"If you were the stronger man, you'd realize that "weaklings" wouldn't be worth your time," Zelda pointed out, "In fact, if you were so high and mighty as you think you are, you'd be able to control that temper of yours and not let a "weakling" get under your skin."

"I have another idea, why don't I leave the weaklings, and I show you just how high and mighty I _am_," Kankuro smirked at her with a secret smile. Zelda gasped as she felt an unknown force touch her foot.

Naruto charged at the man before a small pebble shot out and hit the hand Kankuro was using to hold Konohamaru. They all looked to see Sasuke sitting in a tree, another pebble in his hand.

"You're a long way from home. And you're _way_ out of your league," the Uchiha heir said coolly. He crushed the rock in his hand.

"Get lost."

Sakura and Moegi cooed at Sasuke while Zelda only shook her head. As Naruto was frantically trying to persuade Konohamaru that he was just as cool as Sasuke, Kankuro took the object off his back, the bandages started to unwind. Temari looked at her brother in worry. He wasn't _actually_ going to fight them was he?

Before anything could happen, a deadly voice hissed out.

"Kankuro, _back off_."

They all looked to the tree where Sasuke was and saw another boy hanging from a branch upside-down, on the opposite side of the tree.

"O-oh…hey Gaara," Kankuro nervously greeted.

"You're an embarrassment to our village," Gaara continued, his eyes cold, "Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?"

Kankuro tried to reason with him. "I know...uh...I-I-I mean, _they_ challenged _us_. They started the whole thing really. You see, here's what happened—"

"Shut up."

Kankuro grimaced, worried what was going to happen next. Zelda spine shivered at the harshness of his voice.

"Or I'll kill you."

"Uhh…right," Kankuro chose his words carefully, "I was totally out of line. I'm…I'm sorry Gaara, I was totally out of line."

Gaara looked back at the Leaf nin. "I'm sorry," he spoke, "For any trouble he caused." He looked at Zelda, who looked at him with guarded eyes. "And I'm sorry, for the way he's talked to you."

Zelda could only nod. In his jade green eyes, she saw loneliness, anger, emptiness, and…something else?

Her flashback was interrupted by the guy, Kankuro talking.

"It's a jutsu that only Gaara can do. And somehow it happens automatically. Independent of his will. So any attacks against him are doomed to fail."

"Yeah? Well we'll see!" one of the rain ninja snarled.

Kankuro tiled his head up. "Just face it. You guys can't hope to defeat Gaara."

"Gimme a break!" the ninja charged at Gaara.

Gaara only made a hand gesture before shouting "Sand Coffin!" Temari and Kankuro only smirked knowingly. They _had_ warned the man. As soon as he took another step, stand wrapped itself around the man and soon he was encased by it, his face only showing.

"I…I can't move!" he cried, "Let…let me go!"

The guy's umbrella-like weapons landed in front of Gaara, who began to walk towards the other guy before stopping at one of his weapons.

"All I have to do is cover your big mouth and you'll be dead," he taunted to the helpless genin.

Zelda cringed as she saw Gaara's eyes. They were unstoppable!

Gaara took the umbrella and opened it. "But that would be too easy and too boring," he said. He moved his other hand, which made the sand carrying the guy, levitate. Gaara's eyes got more demonic. He closed the hand.

"Sand Burial!"

Immediately the sand crushed the genin, covering him completely before packing into itself. The guy screamed before he was killed. It rained black sand…sand that had absorbed the guy's blood.

The deceased genin's teammates looked on in fear.

"There wasn't any pain," Gaara explained to them, "I crushed him with more force than necessary. So it was over quickly. The corpse's bitter crimson tears flow into the endless sand, feeding the chaos within me, and making me stronger."

The two genins cowered. One of them took out their scroll. "Here…take the scroll. Take it and let us go!"

But Gaara was relentless. He raised both hands up and immediately sand covered them. Zelda turned her back on the scene, not having the heart, or the stomach, to watch. She winced as she heard the screams and crunch of their bodies and Gaara destroyed them.

Kankuro went to pick up the scroll. "We got lucky," he said with a small smile, "T\It's a Heaven Scroll." He turned to look at Gaara, "Let's head back to the tower."

"Just shut up."

"Huh?"

Gaara's eyes were even more crazed. "It's still…not enough for me."

Kankuro had a look of disbelief. "Come _on_ Gaara. Let's just go!"

"What are you, scared? Coward," Gaara told his brother.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes. "Look, Gaara," he said as he approached the unstable boy, "I know this test is easy for you. But it's _dangerous_ for Temari and me. One set of scrolls is good enough. It's all we need to _pass_."

But Gaara wasn't listening. He prepared his hand. "Losers," he said, "You can't tell me what to do."

Temari narrowed her eyes and Kankuro grabbed Gaara by the collar. "All right, that's enough! Sometimes you just have to listen to what your big brother says!"

Gaara gave him a blank look. "It's too bad I don't think of you as my big brother at all," he said, "If you get in my way…I'll kill you."

The two brothers had a stare down before Gaara pushed his brother's hand away, and lifted up his right arm.

"Wait," Temari interrupted holding her hands up, "Just hold on Gaara. You…don't have to treat us like we're the enemy. Look, do it as a favor to your sister, please?"

Gaara put his hand in front of Kankuro whose eyes widened with worry. He wouldn't actually kill him would he? Gaara moved his hand back to the side, sand forming.

"GAARA" Temari screamed.

But the sand didn't moved. Instead, it formed into a cork. "All right, _this_ time," he said as he plugged his gourd up with the cork.

Zelda gave a sigh of relief as she looked back to see the Sand Siblings walk away…

…until Gaara suddenly stopped. He raised his arm again, and the cork popped back out of his gourd. Sand began to fly around him. Zelda's eyes widened. Had he lied?

"Gaara?" Kankuro called out cautiously.

Zelda failed to notice sand creeping up her leg and let out a yelp as she was suddenly dragged out of her hiding spot and at the mercy of the blood-thirsty boy. She stared into his eyes, her own filled with fear.

Kankuro smirked as he saw who it was.

"Well, look who it is," he taunted, "Ironic how we meet again. Too bad it's not on more friendlier terms."

"Please, please just let me go!" Zelda said in a soft voice, "I'm not a shinobi. I got here by accident! I wanted to warn my friends about this one man, and now I'm just trying to find my way back out."

"You're a civilian? What's a girl like you doing in a place like this? During an exam no less!" Kankuro commented.

"Didn't they say we weren't allowed to use outside sources?" Temari asked as she crossed her arms.

"I wasn't helping them in that way!" Zelda defended, "There was a man, a man who's not from the village, he killed three genin from the Village Hidden in the Grass and said he was going to put a curse seal on my friend!"

Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances. They detected no lie from her. But now they were worried for her life. Although Gaara had said he wouldn't do anything, he was like a ticking bomb.

Gaara seemed to be restraining himself somewhat.

"I…need…need…more," he grunted. H didn't attach the three other genin, but now with his…_innocent_ girl. So helpless, so soft. It was _so tempting_.

Zelda had never been so terrified in her life.

_The song Mistress…sing the song and appease the beast…_

That voice again! Pressure and adrenaline built up inside her body, and suddenly she opened her mouth, and started to sing.

_Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land._

Gaara's eyes widened as he heard her voice. The demon within him raged with anger at the fact he was denied the blood, but it had no affect on Gaara. It was if the song had a soothing barrier that protected him from the demon's wrath.

_Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower...and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear._

Zelda, surprised with herself at what she sang, realized the sand around her leg had slowly gone back to his gourd. Gaara, not knowing what had just happened, decided to leave.

"Kankuro. Temari. We're leaving," he told them, and they all left her.

Zelda just stayed on the ground…bewildered at what just happened. Why did the voice call her "mistress?" What was that song she just sang? And…why did it sound so familiar? It certainly felt familiar as she sang it. Her brow furrowed. It wasn't the song she had been hearing though.

She sighed. She was acquiring a headache. She moved to get up, and was surprised that she couldn't. Her body wouldn't move. She felt someone appear in front of her, and looked up into amber eyes with slit pupils. Zelda gasped. It was the snake man.

"So…you're the presence I felt out of the forest, hm?" he spoke, "My, you _are_ easy on the eyes." His inhumanly long tongue came out and licked his lips. "I must say, you came a tad bit late rescuing you're dear friend, Sasuke."

"What do you want with me?" Zelda asked, standing her ground. She was scared, but it didn't compare to how she felt when she was with Gaara.

"You…_intrigue_ me," the snake man replied, "Oh silly me, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sanin of Konoha."

"I intrigue you how?" Zelda prompted but stopped as she felt the man's tongue reach out and lick her cheek. He had somehow gotten closer to her.

"Now, I have the common courtesy to give you my name," he hissed. "The thing for you to do is to return the favor. Now what is yours, my dear?"

"Z-Zelda," she whispered. Okay, _now_ she was scared out of her wits.

"Thank you. Now about why you intrigue me," he replied, "I know you're no shinobi of the Leaf. You have no chakra network within you. But there's-s-s….s-s-s-something else-s-s-s that you have. Some other…_power_, that you have thing you…and…" his slit pupils dilated.

"_I want it_."

His neck stretched as he brought his face close to her neck. Zelda tried in vain to get away, but her body wouldn't budge an inch! Orochimaru open his mouth to reveal his fangs, and prepared to bite her when he sensed another presence and quickly dodged an oncoming attack. The attack was a barrage of orange and black diamonds. They disappeared after missing their target.

"You will _not_ harm Her Holiness!"

Orochimaru and Zelda looked up to see a figure dressed in white floating above them, his eyes blazing with crazed happiness and anger.

**A/N:** O_O give you a guess on who showed up to help Zelda! I know I said Ghirahim would make an appearance, and although technically I did not lie, he did make an appearance, I thought this would be a perfect place to end the chapter, cause everyone does something like it XD. Anyway, remember to hit that review button! I don't care if you have an account or not, anyone can. Oh, and if you're too lazy to do that (I'm talking to you people with fanficiton accounts), at least add this story to your alert and/or favorite story list! Thanks!


	5. The Chunin exams: Prelims

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or Zelda. Just the idea of the crossover :P

A BIG shout out to katanamaster4 and narutorocks for reviewing! You guys are awesome!

Chapter 5

Standing in front of them was an elfish looking man, who wore a red and gold cape, with short white hair that covered one side of his face, pale white skin, and a thick purple line that outlined his bottom lash, and white lips. One pointed ear with a blue crystal earing stuck out from behind his hair on the side that didn't cover his face. He wore gloves that had diamond shaped holes from the forearm to his wrist. His overall appearance looked like a jester, and a feminine one at that.

Orochimaru glared at the man. "Who….are you?" he hissed at the white man.

"You may call me Ghirahim," the man replied in a tenor voice, "In truth, I'd much prefer to be indulged by my full title: Lord Ghirahim." He looked bored, but Zelda could see that it was a calm before the storm. Who was this man? And why did he look…_somewhat_ like her?

"Your Majesty, are you unhurt?" the man presumably called "Ghirahim" asked.

Zelda hesitantly nodded her head. Satisfied somewhat, the man turned his attention to Orochimaru.

"You, vile, loathsome little snake," he said to him, "How _dare_ you think you have the audacity to harm Her Holiness. She was nearly mine when I found her with you and your pitiful self." He put his hands in front of his face, as if restraining himself from doing something terribly dreadful. "Do you have any idea how it made me feel inside? Seeing Her Majesty at _your_ mercy?" He lifted his eyes, which were filled with demonic anger. The atmosphere suddenly turned dark. Orochimaru eyes were guarded.

'This man…such power…he is not to be trifled with," he thought.

"FURIOUS! OUTRAGED! _SICK_ with anger!" Ghirahim screamed. And he suddenly disappeared in a mist of orange, black, and white triangles, only to reappear behind Orochimaru.

"This turn of events, has left me with a strong appetite for bloodshed," Ghirahim taunted. He walked up behind Orochimaru who found himself immobile. "I won't kill you," his whispered into the snake-man's ear, "_I'll just beat you within an inch of your life!_"

Orochimaru forced his body to move and disappeared, appearing on a branch far from Ghirahim, who just laughed. He snapped his fingers and his cape disappeared in a fit of red and gold diamonds. He wore a white one-piece suit that that had diamond holes randomly in it. There was a hole where his chest was, and one placed so that you could see his chiseled abs. There was a string of them going down from his thighs, to right above his ankle.

He spread his arms out and gave a menacing look at Orochimaru, daring him to attack. Orochimaru, curious of him, threw a bunch of kunai at him. Ghirahim effortlessly stopped the kunai with his own set of diamonds.

"You are an annoying little gadfly," Ghirahim said in a bored tone, "I'm going to do something that it completely out of my character." He reached his hand up to the sky, and a thin black sword appeared in a sparkle of black and red diamonds. Sword in hand, the sword started to glow an evil black.

"I'm going to show you a bit of _mercy_."

And he slashed the sword in the direction of Orochimaru. A black beam shot out form the sword and hit Orochimaru, the force so strong that it took him far from the pair. Ghirahim sighed, before dispersing his sword. His cape appeared him. He turned around to Zelda, who looked at him curiously.

"Your Majesty," he said with a small bow, "I believe you were looking for a way out of this forest?"

"How…do you know me?" she cautiously asked as she got up, "And why do you keep calling me "Her Holiness" and "Her Majesty?" I'm no royalty."

Ghirahim's face lit up with fake surprise, although the fakeness went undetected by the girl. He started to walk along the forest path that would lead her out of the forest.

"Why, I have been looking all over for you, Your Majesty. You're the key in helping my Master return." He cocked his head. "Have you no memory of your past, girl?" he asked her, and quickly added, "Your Majesty."

Zelda's eyes furrowed as she walked behind the man. "I…I know that I am not originally from the Leaf Village," she admitted, "But I'm not sure where I was born." She looked at the back of his head. "What do you mean I'm a _key_ in helping your…master?"

"Oh yes, my Master. He has been waiting for _years_ for the help only _you _can give," he said nostalgically, "You really have no recollection?"

He felt the girl shake her head behind him.

Ghirahim gave a secretive smile. Well, _this_ was a turn of events. Perhaps it would make his plans go by smoother. "That is…_most_ unfortunate, Your Majesty," he said "It would please me to no end to help you…however," he stopped as she realized they were at the gate, "I think, for _your_ benefit and my Master's. That you try to remember where you came from."

"Zelda?"

They heard someone calling her name. Ghirahim made a move to leave, but Zelda stopped him. She put a hand on his arm, not noticing how he tensed underneath her.

"Wait! Will I ever see you again?" she asked him hopefully.

Ghirahim smiled, what looked like a reassuring smile, but held a secret meeting. "Don't worry, You Majesty. It is our destiny to meet each other again," his eyes turned a little dark, "And when we do…it'll be the most _wonderful_ reunion." And with that he disappeared right as Kakashi poofed in front of her.

"Zelda! What are you doing in the Forest of Death?" he asked her in a serious voice.

"I wanted to warn your team about Orochimaru's intentions! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interfere with the exam," Zelda explained quickly.

Kakashi's face relaxed, somewhat. Well, at least she wasn't hurt or anything. "Well, unfortunately you were a bit late on that," he told her, "The team passed, but Sasuke's got the curse seal on him. I was just about ready to head over to the prelims to seal it when I felt your presence coming from the forest."

Zelda blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I just…I don't know what I'd do if I were to lose Naruto or any of the others from Rookie 9." Kakashi's visible eye softened.

"Well, you're okay and unharm, that's all that matters," he turned around, looking back at her. "Why don't I walk you back to the village?" he suggested, "Lord Hokage _may_ let you watch the prelims if you wanted to."

On the way back, Zelda became in deep thought. What did that man mean about  
>her past?" She was born somewhere here, just not in the Leaf Village. Right? But he just appeared out of nowhere! Without the use of jutsu, clearly he was something else. He didn't even wear a forehead protector. Was he a bandit?...No, the way he dressed proved otherwise. Why didn't she feel threatened by him? Her heart told him to get away, but her mind felt comforted by the fact that she was with a person who knew her. Someone who had <em>answers<em>. Zelda hoped that she would run into him again soon, for she had many questions to ask him.

"Well, here we are," Kakashi announced. They were at the building. "I'll meet up with you later, right now, I need to go find Sasuke. I'll see you later," he said before poofing away.

Zelda looked at where the masked ninja had just been for a moment, before heading into the doors.

…_Zelda…_

She whipped her head around before entering, looking for the source. But she found nothing. Warily, she entered the building and was greeted by familiar faces. Shikamaru was the closest person to her, so she walked over to him.

"Hey Shikamaru," she greeted.

The latter turned around to see how had said his name. "Oh, hey Zelda. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm here to watch the prelims," she said, "But…I thought that the Chunin exams only had three stages."

Shikamaru yawned. "Yeah, it's such a drag. They normally do have three stages. But…since so many teams passed, they needed a way for cut down who could move on to the finals. Man, it's so stupid! So they created the prelims just for that," he explained.

"Why would they want to cut down how many people can pass? I mean, if you pass, you pass, right?" Zelda asked. It was puzzling to her.

Shikamaru only shrugged. "Troublesome," he said.

"We're waiting for the line up," Chouji said as he walked up to the pair. He was munching on a bag of chips. Zelda spotted Naruto and Sakura in the background and moved to be with them.

The first match was Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado, a member from a team with its leader being Kabuto. Zelda noticed the curse seal on his neck.

"Don't worry. Sasuke is prohibited from using any technique," a voice told her. It was Kakashi, who had just miraculously appeared. "I told Sasuke that I would have to intervene should the Curse Seal get out of control," he explained.

Zelda nodded and looked on.

At first, the match seemed hopeless for Sasuke, as Yoroi kept absorbing Sasuke's chakra through his hands. Then, Naruto started taunting him, Rock Lee at his side. Sasuke smirked and then executed the Lion Combo, which was a replica of Lee's Front Lotus Move.

"My technique!" Lee said in awe.

"The Sharingan," Zelda commented. She had heard about the fight between Sasuke and Lee, and she knew that whatever technique Lee had shown during that fight, Sasuke's Sharingan copied it. And since the technique wasn't caused by a kekkei genkai…So in the end, Sasuke Uchiha won the match and had advanced to the next round. He had used no chakra during the fight, only taijutsu. Zelda watched as Kakashi approached his student and led him away from the arena.

Zelda took this opportunity to browse through the jounin who were present. Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, Asuma, Baki (jounin from the sand village), Anko, Ibiki, and others…wait…the jounin from Sound. Zelda gasped. He had amber eyes with slit pupils!

"Hm? What's gotten you so shaken up, Zelda?" Naruto asked as he noticed her intake of breath, "You still bothered by those voices?"

Zelda quickly gathered her composure. "Eh, no. No, I'm fine, Naruto," she reassured the spikey-blonde haired boy. She even smiled at him. When Naruto was satisfied with her answer, Zelda's face quickly fell. There's no doubt that that Sound jounin was Orochimaru. But…why didn't anyone else notice?

Next up was Zaku Abumi, a genin from the Sound Village, vs. Shino Aburame.

The Sound nin had been injured during the trial in the Forest of Death, but even that didn't stop him firing off his mouth. The guy had no chance against Shino, who immedietly sent a whirlwind of bugs toward him. As Shino distracted the guy, the bugs climbed up on him and into the wind holes in his hand. When Zaku tried to use them, chakra exploded from his arms, the explosion making one of his arms detach from his body.

Zelda whimpered and covered her eyes.

"I've heard that the Aburame clan makes a special pact with insects."

She heard someone explain.

"In return for letting them nest in their body, and feed off their chakra, the insects obey the will of their host."

"With holes in his hand plugged up, the chakra had no where to go. Sooner or later, something had to give," a sound nin from Zaku's team and explained to the other.

The next round was up: Kankuro from the Sand vs. Misumi Tsuguri, another sound genin.

Kankuro put down the object that was on his back. Zelda watched as the he was quickly overtaken by the sound nin. Although her first encounter with Sand nin was bad, she was worried for him. Suddenly, her eyes widened when Kankuro head did a complete 180-degree turn to face the guy. The face was cracked and a fish eye was seen on the right side. The jaw looked like a puppet's.

"Now, it's my turn so say goodbye!" the puppet's mouth said.

Arms popped out of "Kankuro" and wrapped itself around the Sound nin, putting him in an iron grip. The puppet tightened its arms and the Sound nin grunted at the pressure. By now, the face that was Kankuro was off completely showing a puppet with three eyes. Zelda's eyes were drawn to the object as she saw something move within the bandages, and a hand popped out. It gave a tug on the bandages, which then came loose and unraveled showing Kankuro. There were chakra strings from the tips of his fingers and they connected to the puppet.

"I give! I give!" the Sound nin cried as the puppet's arms went even tighter.

"But if you're bones are all crushed, just think about how much more flexible you'll be," Kankuro replied, not caring about the genin's strangled cries. After a couple more minutes, Kankuro made his puppet release the shinobi who fell to the ground unconscious.

Medical-nins came in to take the fatally injured genin away.

"Two against one is hitting below the belt isn't it? I mean, is that thing even fair? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"It's not really two against one," Kakashi explained, "It's a puppet, not a ninja."

"So he's…a puppet master," Zelda commented.

"Yeah, it's the puppet-master jutsu," Sakura added, "He's just controlling the puppet with his chakra. It's a ninja tool, like a shuriken." Her face then turned serious.

The next match was between Sakura Haruno, and Ino Yamanaka. Ex-childhood friends.

"I wonder how Sakura will do," Zelda commented.

"Out of all the people for Ino to be up against, it _would _have to be Sakura. What a mess," Shikamaru said as his face grew with worry.

"I know," Chouji whined, "I hope Ino will be okay!"

"GOOOO SAKURA! YOU CAN DO IT! DON'T LOSE!" Naruto shouted to his pink-haired teammate.

The fight began with the girls using petty moves against each other. Ino seemed to be pulling back just a little.

"I'm not that dependent little girl anymore, Ino!" Sakura shouted at her.

Sakura wanted to fight seriously. With newfound determination, the girls began their fight. The _real_ fight.

Zelda watched in awe at the two kounoichi go at each other, harder than before. But they were both equally matched.

Suddenly, she felt a tingle go down her spine.

…_Zelda…_

She started to feel lightheaded.

…_Your Grace…_

Naruto had an outburst that was directed at Shikamaru, but it was faint to her ears. Her eyes had a newfound heaviness to them. Not being able to fight, she closed her eyes and felt her body fall, only to be cushioned by someone's arms and cradled into a hard chest.

88888888

She was falling.

Falling into darkness.

The fall was never ending.

Zelda righted herself so that her feet were on the bottom, and she was standing.

…_Zelda…_

She frantically looked around. "Who are you!" she cried out, "Why do you know my name!"

There was no answer. After a moment, there was a blue glow that lit the area. It was coming from above. Zelda looked up.

In the blue light was a blue and purple figure. The figure was feminine. Her entire face, neck, and pixie hair was cerulean blue, as if she were made of a blue crystal. Eyes were pupiless. She wore a dark blue dress that donned a huge sapphire diamond on her dress. She appeared to have no arms, and instead, the cape-like object on the side of her seemed to replicate the appendages. On side was blue, the other was lavender. She wore blue cross-stitched black leggings. On the middle of her forehead, was another diamond similar to the one on her chest only much smaller.

Zelda looked up at the figure in wonder.

"_Hello, Mistress Zelda."_

The voice was emotionless and robotic, but gentle at the same time.

"Who…are you?" Zelda asked again.

"_I apologize, but now is not the time for introductions. You must meet me in front of the village gates, tomorrow night, when the moon is high in the sky. Follow the blue ball of light."_

Zelda found herself glowing. "Wait!" she cried. But that was as far as she got. She was cast down into darkness once more.

88888888

"Zelda!" Naruto cried as he saw the girl faint. Fortunately she was right next to Kakashi who gently caught her in his arms. He ran over to the girl.

"What happened? Is she okay? Zelda, can you hear me?" Naruto freaked out.

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi told the boy, "She just passed out. Now, from what is the question…"

The match between Sakura and Ino was over. It was a draw, as both girls were knocked out and neither of them got up.

"Calm yourself, Naruto," Kakashi said before poofing to the bottom of the arena to pick up his pink-haired student. Asuma did the same with Ino.

Typical Naruto ran right over to see if his teammate was alright, and Shikamaru and Chouji did the same with Ino. As soon as Kakashi put her down, he made his way over to the abandoned Zelda, who was still unconscious.

"I wonder what happened," he murmured to himself, "It's not like Zelda to go passing out like this."

Even though Sakura was no student of his, nor a shinobi that he would see in the everyday life, because she hung around Naruto so much she hung around him a lot as well. And besides, Kakashi was curious of the girl he had saved that one-day when he first found her. But, every since she started living with Naruto, the two were inseparable. Sometimes if really did seem like the two were brother and sister seeing how close they were to each other. Kakashi smiled, Naruto was lucky to have a person like her so close to him, and it might've just sparked a little jealousy within silver-haired shinobi.

The next match was Tenten vs. Temari of the Sand.

"Say, Naruto," Kakashi called out to his student as the match began, "Would you have any idea why Zelda would pass out like this?"

Naruto put a finger to his chin and he thought for a moment. "Hm…well, she _was_ having trouble sleeping at night," he finally replied.

Kakashi nodded his head. "What kind of troubles?"

Naruto had to think harder this time. "Well, she said she keeps having these strange dreams. And on the occasion, a nightmare," he recalled. He looked at Kakashi. "Come to think of it, today she said she's been hearing voices…or some kind of music. Either way, it's been bothering her. And I mean a _major_ bother."

Kakashi nodded his head understandingly. "I found Zelda in the entry gates to the Forest of Death earlier today," he admitted. Naruto's eyes widened. Kakashi continued, "But what was odd, was that I sensed another presence with her. It wasn't a presence of a shinobi. I don't know what it was, but it definitely had an evil aura to it. Whoever it was, was gone by the time I had reached her."

Kakashi's eye narrowed as he looked at Zelda's sleeping figure. "I don't know if she was spooked by whoever was with her, but I'm going to bet that _did _have something to do with it," he said, "And it doesn't help that she's been hearing voices. The music I don't really know what to think, but, the voices is something we should be careful of." He looked straight ahead now. "If someone _is_ after her, we need to be prepared," Kakashi closed the conversation.

Naruto nodded in agreement, determination filled his eyes. No one…was going to touch her. Not if he was still alive.

The match ended with Temari being the winner. Although Tenten's weapon skills were extraordinary, it wasn't enough for the Sand nin's wind powers.

The next match involved the genius Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin, another Sound nin. Shikamaru easily overtook, despite having a disadvantage. Kin had seen Shikamaru use the Shadow Technique in the Forest of Death, but did not display her own skills. The genius proved to plan way far in advanced, and Shikamaru won the match.

Zelda was still unconscious.

Naruto was placed against Kiba, and with a stroke of luck, Naruto won the match. Kiba's techniques were strong against Naruto, until he farted that is. Since Kiba's sense of smell was magnified a thousand times at that moment, Naruto took advantage to knock him out.

The Hyuuga clan members were up: Hinata vs. Neji. Although Hinata had a hard time, with Naruto's encouragement, she remained strong and a newfound strength erupted within her.

During that part of the battle, Zelda woke up. She looked around herself and remembered where she was. She was surprised to see the two Hyuuga clans fighting each other.

"Well, nice to see you're awake sleepyhead," a teasing voice was heard.

Zelda looked to her side to see Kakashi looking down on her with his one eye.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. She stood up and brushed her dress.

"I'm going to head out," she told Kakashi who only nodded.

"Zelda, if you ever need someone to talk to. I'm here," he told her before retuning his attention back to the fight.

Zelda nodded her head before walking up to Naruto. "Tell me how the rest of the matches go," she told him. Naruto gave her a confused look. "I need to…clear my mind and think. By myself," she answered.

Naruto reluctantly said goodbye, and promised that he'd fill in all the details before Zelda walked out of the arena.

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Zelda walked through the village, her thoughts on all the events that had taken place that day. Who was Ghirahim? And why did he know her? How was she a "key" in bringing about his master? Better yet…_who_ was his master? Zelda knew she should've listened to her heart, which told her to stay far from that man, but she yearned for answers. She'd finally found someone who might know more about her. After all, he _did_ save her from Orochimaru. She had no choice _but_ to trust this man.

But that mysterious blue figure might have answers as well, and she definitely didn't feel bad around her…he…_it_. Zelda stopped walking. _Should_ she meet up with the blue figure? She said to meet her at night at the gates, when the moon was high in the sky.

Zelda continued walking and found herself in front of the Konoha gates. Izumo and Kotetsu were there again as the two guards. That could be a problem. There were guards there 24/7. There's no way that she could get out without being question.

She sighed. Guess she'll figure it out when she gets there. She turned around and started heading back to Naruto's apartment, more questions filling her mind.

Where _did_ she come from? And why couldn't she remember. All she remembered as that she fell off a cliff…or did she do that on purpose? If it was on purpose…why did she do it? Where was she born? What had she been doing before she was found by Kakashi? WHY COULDN'T SHE REMEMBER? All she could remember is living in Konoha since she was 7. She was taught the ways of the shinobi, but never had the talent of becoming one. She had no chakra network, yet, there was some other power she felt within her. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it was something strong.

She huffed in frustration and she rubbed her forehead, she felt a headache coming. She walked up the stairs and unlocked the door.

Naruto was already in there, all bandaged up and back to normal.

"Oh, hey Zelda! Do you feel better?" he asked.

Zelda nodded.

"Great!...um…do you happen to be hungry by any chance? Because uh...I am...with all that fighting hahaha," he sheepishly asked as his stomach gave a growl.

Zelda smiled, but softly shook her head. "Sorry Naruto, I'm not. Go ahead and eat without me," she replied.

"Huh? Why? Is something wrong?" he asked her.

Zelda shook her head again. "No, I just…need some sleep."

Naruto gave her a look. "Umm…ok….alright. Well, sleep tight okay?" he said after a moment before heading out.

Zelda, without changing clothes, immediately got into bed and went to sleep.

She had no nightmares or dreams that night.

She awoke in late afternoon that day. When she got up, she found a note from Naruto, telling her that he has a new teacher and would be gone for some "extra training" in preparation for the final stage of the Chunin exam.

She decided that her first step for the day was to get some food. Making sure her appearance didn't looked haggled, she went to a familiar ramen stand. On her way there, who should she run into but the Copy-ninja, Kakashi.

"Yo! Zelda," he greeted with a wave of his hand.

"Hey, Kakashi," she greeted back with a smiled.

"You look well today, better than yesterday for sure," he observed her form.

Zelda just looked off into space. Thinking about tonight.

"Zelda? Hello, you there?" Kakashi gently waved a gloved hand in front of her face.

She snapped out of her stupor. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she reassured the jounin who looked unconvinced.

Kakashi looked at her closer. "Did you have a nice sleep?" he asked her.

"Actually, yes."

"No dreams or nightmares?"

"No, none at all—wait a second, how did you know about those?"

He remained quiet.

"Naruto?" she sighed.

Kakashi remained silent. 'Busted,' he thought as he suddenly felt bad for prying. Zelda pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It's true that I've had some weird dreams and nightmares lately, but I'm fine now. As for passing out yesterday, watching the prelims was too much for me," she said before turning back to the direction of the apartment. She was no long hungry and just wanted to curl back up and go to sleep.

"Zelda, you know that if you were ever…feeling threatened in any way…you've got people here for you. But most importantly," he said, "you've also got me. I want you to know that you can trust me, Zelda. That you feel _safe_."

Zelda took one look at Kakashi. "I know. And I _do_," she said with a smile, "and thank you." She walked back to the apartment.

Meanwhile Kakashi was just confused at what just happened. He wasn't even thinking when he told her that! It all just kind of…jumbled out of him. He shook his head and headed back to his own apartment, grumbling something about Jiraiya and his books being the reason.

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_Later that night_…

Naruto wasn't home yet, probably still training with whoever was training him. Zelda didn't get to meet him, most likely because of the fact that she didn't see Naruto at all that day.

She lay in her bed, asleep. Her face contorted as she began to dream.

88888888

She was once again in darkness. Everywhere she looked was met with black. She waited for a long time for something to happen.

Silence…

More silence…

Even _more _silence…

Suddenly, a masculine figure appeared. He was dark brown with white markings and bore a large brown diamond on his chest and a smaller one on his forehead. He looked similar to the blue figure, but different.

She gasped as he withdrew a sword that looked similar to Ghirahim and charge at her. Zelda tried to back up, but she seemed to be going nowhere. She turned around and let out a cry as the figure stabbed her with his sword.

But then he disappeared, and she was completely fine.

The blue figure appeared.

…_Tonight….when the moon is high…go to the entrance gate Your Grace…_

She heard it speak. "Please, tell me your name," she pleaded. The figure only stood there. "At least tell me who that dark figure was," she tried again.

_Patience, Zelda…tonight…all you're questions will be answered…_

88888888

And she woke up with a start. Night had fallen. Stretching and getting off her bed she looked out the window. The moon was out, but not high enough to be considered "high in the sky."

Deciding that some fresh air couldn't hurt, she left the room.

Konoha was different at night. It was peaceful. She passed by the Ninja Academy, the ramen stand (which was closed), the Hokage's Tower, and the Training Grounds. She stopped when she was able to see the entrance gates.

They were wide open, but naturally, there were two guards there which happened to be Kotetsu and Izumo.

She felt a strange pull coming from the outside. Wait, what was that shining ball of light she saw just barely on the other side of the gateway? It was blue. Zelda quickly rushed towards the entrance but came to a halting stop a couple of feet from the checkpoint. She quickly hid on the outside.

"Man, this sucks," she heard Kotetsu say.

"I'll say, we've been here _all day_. You'd think they'd give us a break and let someone else do it," Izumo replied to his partner.

"Yeah, we'll it was either this or furniture moving. I don't know about you buddy, but I'd much prefer doing this than moving furniture," Kotetsu added.

Zelda's heart pounded. There's no way she was going to get past these two. Not in a million years!

'Oh well,' she thought, 'Let's just go out with a bang!' She walked out to the front of the checkpoint.

"Hey guys!" she greeted the two chunin who looked at her in surprise.

"Zelda! What're you doing out this late?" Izumo asked, slightly suspicious of the girl.

"Um…." Think! Think! "I heard a cat from the other side." She about slapped herself.

Kotetsu gave her a look. "We didn't hear a cat," he told her and looked her dead in the eye.

'Busted," she thought.

"Okay! Okay! You caught me," she admitted, "It's just that…I've never seen the outskirts of Konoha at night."

Well, at least it was true.

Kotetsu leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head. "You want to see it _that_ bad that you came around _midnight_?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Please?" she insisted, "It'll be quick, I promise. Just _one_ look."

Izumo looked at the girl closely. "I'd be okay with it," he said after a moment, "just as long as one of us went with you."

Not where the conversation was suppose to head.

"Do you guys not trust me?" she feigned a look of hurt to which the two chunin quickly shook their heads.

"No, no, it's not that," Izumo reassure her, "It's just that it can get pretty dangerous at night. We don't want anything to happen on our watch."

Zelda sighed. There was only one option left.

"Okay, what about this? I'll got out for a few minutes, if I take too long, one of you can come look for me…or get someone to come find me," she offered.

Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other, trying to decided whether to take her offer or not. Kotetsu shrugged at his partner. If it was only for a few minutes…

"Alright," Izumo gave in, "but if you're not back in…let's say…10 minutes. We'll get someone to retrieve you."

Zelda smiled real wide. "Really?"

Izumo nodded before making a gesture that she could leave. "Oh, and be sure to visit some of the springs. I heard they're _really_ good at this time of night," he called after her.

She was on the other side of the gate, but the glowing blue ball was nowhere to be seen! She looked around her and found it a few feet from her, waiting. She quickly followed it, and it kept moving away but pausing so that she could catch up. It led her through trees, bushes, and paths. Zelda finally passed a familiar looking wall with a cliff at the top. It was the cliff she fell off of. But the ball did not stop, it kept going and past the wall, in which Zelda followed suit.

Finally, the ball slowed down in an area that was once inspected by three jounin. As Zelda slowed down to a walk, she watched the glowing ball slowly make its way to one of the trees, and diving down into a bush. Zelda cautiously followed it, heading towards the exact tree and kneeling down by the bush. She carefully lifted the bottom branches of the bush and felt a hole. The ball gave a slight pulse glowing brighter for a bit and then dying down. Hesitantly, Zelda stuck both hands in the hole and was surprised when her hands hit something cold, solid, and of metal material.

She wrapped her fingers around the object, and pulled. The object easily came out of the hole, and Zelda found herself holding…a golden harp. It had strange markings at the bottom going towards the top on each side. At the top of each side were what looked like heads and beaks of birds with two red stones for eyes. Zelda looked at the harp in wonder.

Why did it look and feel so familiar?

She plucked a couple strings. It was the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard.

The blue ball suddenly appeared again this time it came from the harp. It started moving again, pausing a few feet from Zelda as if it was telling her to follow her. She quickly followed the ball of light.

After moments longer of following the light, Zelda found herself deep within a wood. She no longer had an idea of where she was; she couldn't see a thing with all the trees. She only hoped that she was still within Konoha's perimeter.

The ball finally stopped moving. Zelda looked around. It had led her to some sort of spring. Not a hot spring, but a small spring that was serene and peaceful.

"Wow, this place is beautiful," she commented.

The blue ball moved away from her and towards the water. In the middle of the spring, was a sword. The blue ball went to the sword, and vanished as soon as it touched it. Zelda looked in awe.

_Draw the sword Your Grace…_

The familiar robotic voice said. Zelda didn't move.

_Do not be afraid, Zelda…_

With nothing to lose, Zelda walked up to the spring, the harp held between her arm and body. She waded into the spring, which was not that deep as it only went up to mid-thigh. She felt herself put a little more force in her wading as the wet part of her skit weighed her down.

When she got to the sword, she looked at it. It was a light green, and glowed with some mysterious ancient power. Eyes filled with determination, she put the hand that wasn't holding the harp on the handle of the sword, and slowly drew it out.

The sword pulsed with a strange glow. Zelda's eyes looked over the blade. It was a beautiful sword.

She jumped as the blue ball of light came out of the sword and burst in front of her. When the light died down, the blue figure that Zelda had seen in her dreams, stood before her.

_The one chosen by my creator…_

_I have been waiting for you…_

_You will play a role in a great destiny…_

Zelda looked at the figure with a strange look. Who was this…_what_ was it?

_According to your social customs…_

_I should provide you with my personal designation…  
>.<em>

_._

_._

_.  
><em>

_Fi, is the name I was given._

**A/N:** OMGEEEE FI has finally made her appearance! Btw, Zelda WILL know who is in the finals. I actually forgot to put it in here (err..NARUTO forgot to tell her), but it actually works in the next chapter. Sorry to cut this short, but alas it had to be done. Please review! Or at least add this story to your blah blah blah you guys know already. Thanks for reading! :D


	6. Memories Return and more

**A/N:** Thank you to those who reviewed! It means so much to me, and I work hard on this fanfic crossover, so I hope you guys see that anyway, next chapter! Oh, and I was rereading the story…I'm REALLY SORRY for all the spelling and careless mistakes XD. They're not bad enough for me to redo them though, so don't…worry?

Kiddi – Zelda isn't "The Hero" in the way that Link is. True, she her appearance in Naruto's world will have an affect, but it doesn't really involve it being her "destiny" of some sort. You will learn later what she is, and it's exactly what happens in the game. Unfortunately, I don't plan on having any romance with Zelda, but I can't really control where the story goes sometimes.

dxk3355 – haha, I feel so dumb because I had to look up what a "mary sue," was. I think I had an idea of what it was…I just wasn't sure. I'm glad you enjoy it

Oh…And I must apologize….Shikamaru has an IQ over 200 (hehe).

Chapter 6

Zelda stared at the figured known as "Fi."

"Fi?" she repeated.

_As the spirit of the Goddess sword, I was created for a single purpose…_

_Long before the recorded memory of your people._

_In your possession, is the Goddess's Harp, and Goddess Sword…_

_Both of which belonged to my creator._

"My…people? Goddess? What?" Her mind was wheeling. She then looked at the sword and harp. What goddess was this figure talking about?

_High in the sky, passed a cloud barrier, exists a floating island…_

_A floating island known as Skyloft…_

_The place of your birth._

Skyloft, so that's where she was from. But she couldn't place an image on it. Why couldn't she remember?

_By my creator, your people were gifted with guardian birds known as Loftwings…_

What the heck were Loftwings? Zelda watched as Fi flew a few feet away from her onto dry land where a large purplish blue plume lay. She touched it and it started to magically levitate and followed Fi who came back to Zelda. The plume was now in front of Zelda.

_According to my calculations, I am 100% certain…_

_That this plume belongs to your Loftwing._

The sword in her hand disappeared in a bright light, and was suddenly in a sheath that appeared hanging behind Zelda. She touched the sheath behind her. Since when was _that_ there? She turned her attention back to the plume. The colors sparkled with a magical gleam. It looked familiar to her, but once again, she couldn't picture a bird a bid that large. She reached out and grabbed the plume.

_I was sent here by my creator to help you return to Skyloft._

"But what does it all mean?" Zelda interrupted Fi, "I still don't understand what's going on! It's all too much!"

Fi stayed silent for a moment, and Zelda started to think if she did the wrong thing. Fi was so quiet…so…_emotionless_…it was hard to tell what the figure was thinking.

_My apologies…_

_ Perhaps it is best if you were see your lost memories. _

Fi floated up a little higher and went closer to Zelda.

_Unsheath the Goddess Sword..._

Zelda did.

_ Trace the outline of the symbol you see in the ground, beneath the water._

She looked below her. Because the water was so clear, she saw the faint lines of a picture. The top portion consisted of three triangles: there was one on top, and the pointed tip of the other two on each side point of the upper triangle. If one were to look at it from a bird's eye view, it looked like a big triangle, with a total of 4 triangle shapes, one of which was a hole. Below the three triangles, was a picture that looked similar to a bird: there was a head, two wings, and two feet.

Zelda raised the sword, which glowed upon being lifted and put it in the water and touched the ground. Carefully, she dug the blade's tip into the ground, and traced the symbol, each line and curve. As she completed tracing the figure, it started to glow a bright light.

_Excellent, Zelda._

_Now, with the Goddess's Harp…_

_ You must play the song of the Goddess that will awaken the power within this spring._

Zelda put the sword back into its holder on her back and held the harp and the plume in one hand, and placed the free hand at the strings.

"Wait," she paused, "I don't what to play…"

_The song known as the Ballad of the Goddess…_

_I believe you sung it once here._

Zelda thought for a second, not remembering singing a song. Sensing a loss within the girl, Fi started to softly sing a melody, and suddenly, Zelda remembered her encounter with Gaara. That was the song? The Ballad of the Goddess? Zelda looked at Fi, she hadn't failed her now. She closed her eyes and decided to let her body take over.

As if they had a mind of their own, her hands plucked the strings, playing the familiar melody. The instrument's sweet music filled the air.As she played, the glowing symbol on the ground started to glow green. She played it again, this time, singing along.

_Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land._

_Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower...and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear._

She lowered the harp as she was done and gasped as she saw the symbol glowing bright green. Slowly, the water around her starting taking a light green tint. Zelda looked at Fi, who suddenly held a different aura about her.

_Mistress Zelda…_

_Upon your playing of the Ballad of the Goddess…_

_I have a message from the Goddess herself written in the old language…_

_I will translate for you._

Fi suddenly moved away from Zelda and took a stance. Then, she started skating on the water. Zelda watched her gracefully move.

"_My chosen maiden of light. In order to return from whence you came, you must acquire the power of the three goddess: Farore's Courage, Din's Power, and Nayru's Wisdom. You will find three different springs to acquire these powers. One, in a forest, the other in a land of great flame, and the last in a land of great water. At each spring, you must cleanse the Goddess Sword and your body, and you will be granted not only the power but also glimpse of your destiny."_

"_Upon acquiring the three powers, you must then go to the highest place from where you live and thrust the Goddess Sword into the ground. Play the Goddess's song and a portal shall open for you to return home."_

"_But be warned, a great evil lurks within your home world, followers are looking for you. And only you hold the key in unlocking the great evil."_

Zelda's eyes widened. She is…a key to unlocking evil? Talk about bad luck!

"_Now, you must cleanse your body…_

_Only then can you remember."_

Zelda looked at the green tinted water. Scooping a little with both hands, and gently lifting her arms up, she sprinked the water upon her head. The water streamed through her hair and dampened the top of her dress.

She waited for a moment, and her eyes shot opened.

88888888

_She slowly opened her eyes, and saw two four-toed feet, bluish-purple wings, a white chest, yellow beak, and golden eyes staring back at her curiously. Startled, she took a step back. This was her! This was her Loftwing!_

.

.

_She spread her arms out, slowing her fall. Putting both hands to her mouth, she gave a nice long whistle. _

_._

_._

_Immediately she saw a purplish-blue blur come towards her. She landed on the bird and quickly grabbed hold of its saddle._

.

.

_The childhood friends glided in the sky on their Loftwings, all of them enjoying the ride._

_._

_._

_As they neared the island a flash of light suddenly struck right in front of them, which turned into a big black tornado._

.

.

_She remembered seeing a figure atop a crimson Loftwing trying to reach her, but an unknown force blasted them apart and she fell into the depths of the unknown._

_._

_._

_Her Father, Headmaster Gaepora._

_._

_._

_Professor Owlan and Horwell._

_._

_._

_Pippit, Karane, and Groose._

_._

_._

_Link._

88888888

_Back at Konoha's gate entrance…_

Izumo looked at his watch. "Well, it's been 20 minutes. Way past the time I told her I would allow," he said.

"Yeah, why did you give her more time?" Kotetsu asked.

Izumo shrugged, "I figured I'd give her a little leeway since it might take her time to get back."

"How far did she go?"

"I don't know."

They waited a couple more minutes, and started to get worried.

"Where _is_ she?" Kotetsu wondered.

The two looked at each other. They would never hear the end of it from Naruto if they lost her.

"You go," they both said to each other.

Izumo sighed. "Man, this sucks!" he said, "But…neither of us are really allowed to leave our stations."

"Perhaps we can get someone else to go," Kotetsu suggested.

Izumo looked at his partner, "Who the hell's gonna be up this time of day…night?"

"Hello boys."

They turned around to see Kakashi, who had been out for a late night stroll. They blinked and stayed silent.

"Is…something wrong?" he asked them after a while.

"Uhhh…" Kotetsu started.

"Zelda came by here about 20 minutes ago. She said she wanted to go explore the outskirts of Konoha at night, since she's never seen it before. I told her I'd give her 10 minutes to do so, and gave her an extra 10 minutes to get back, but she still hasn't shown up. We agreed that if she didn't show up, one of us was going to go get her. Unfortunetly, neither Kotetsu nor myself can go because we're not allowed to leave out post," Izumo explained.

Kakashi looked at the two chunin who sweatdropped.

"You let a citizen out of Konoha at this time of night?" he asked them in a slow voice, "With Orochimaru on the loose?"

Izumo scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, I guess it isn't your fault entirely," Kakashi admitted, "You also didn't know that Zelda has been hearing strange voices lately."

Kotetsu and Izumo's eyes widened.

"We're soo sorry!" they kept chanting to the Copy-nin who sighed.

"Well, can't mull it over now. I'll go and bring her back," he told them. And he walked through the gates and into the night.

'Well, this might be a little difficult,' Kakashi thought to himself as he realized he had no idea where Zelda was.

He pulled out a scroll from his vest and bit his thumb. He then opened the scroll and made a read streak on the scroll and snapped it shut. He slammed it into the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

With a poof, a small pug was seen where the scroll was.

"You'd better have a good excuse, Kakashi," the pug said in a tired voice. Kakashi picked the pug up.

"I need you to look for Zelda, she's somewhere on the outskirts," he told the dog, "Her scent should still be on my vest.

The pug took a quick whiff of the vest. "You got it, boss." And he dashed into a bunch of trees, Kakashi hot on his paws.

88888888

She gasped as she was brought back to reality, panting because of the fact that she was overwhelmed with what had just happened. She remembered everything! Skyloft…the day she received her Loftwing…riding along side Link and his Loftwing…the black tornado…_everything_.

Her Loftwing!

Zelda looked at the plume that was behind her and then at the sky. Could she even find her friend? It's been so long, would her Loftwing remember her?

Fi had been guessing her thoughts.

_Mistress Zelda, do not worry…_

_Upon finding the plume, I sensed that your Loftwing is indeed still alive._

_ I can confirm that the bond between you and your Loftwing remains strong._

Zelda let out a sigh of relief.

_Now, after you had regained your memories…_

_A melody was reawakened within me._

_ This is the first of three songs you must learn in order to acquire the sacred powers_

Zelda took up the harp, ready to learn, and Fi started to sing. It was a lively melody, with the image of forests, flowers, and plants. After Fi was done, Zelda played the melody back on the harp. She felt a strange sensation wash through her as she was done. It was if her confidence had been boosted.

_That melody is known as Farore's Courage._

Fi explained as Zelda lowered her harp.

_I have been informed by the Goddess…_

_That you have other powers you can use._

"I knew that there was something strange about me," Zelda admitted, "Sometimes when I get angry, a ball of fire appears in my hand."

_That would be Din's Fire. _

_You also have Nayru's Shield…_

_And Farore's wind._

_Nayru's shield can protect you from any projectiles…_

_ And when enemies overwhelm you at a close distance, you you can blast them away._

_Farore's wind allows you to teleport anyway…_

_But be warned, you cannot travel long distances. _

_ To perform Nayru's Shield, you must concentrate your power around yourself._

Zelda closed her eyes, and after a few moments she felt a warm sensation fill her body. When she opened them, she saw that she was incased in a blue translucent diamond.

_Now, for Farore's wind, you must think of your destination._

_Look at that spot on the opposite side of the spring..._

_Use Farore's wind to teleport yourself out of the spring._

Zelda looked at the spot where Fi was referring. She closed her eyes and she felt a gentle breeze caress her. She was engulfed in a green light with gold ribbons whirling around her, and found herself out of the spring on the opposite side where she had been.

"Wow," she breathed. She didn't know she had _that _kind of power.

_Mistress Zelda, we should head back…_

_My senses tell me that a man is out looking for you…_

_He is accompanied with a dog of some sort._

Probably Izumo or Kotetsu. Wait...dog? What was Kiba doing out this late?

She went to walk out away from the spring and turned around to see if Fi was going to follow her, but was surprised to see her gone.

_Mistress, I am here within the sword…_

_I predict that people might be startled by my appearance…_

_Therefore I will stay within the sword._

_Just call should you ever need my assistance. _

Just as Fi was finished talking to her, a small cloud poofed in front of her revealing a small pug. Zelda tilted her head.

"That's not Akamaru…" she told herself. She then gasped as the dog began to speak.

"There's no way I'd belong to that wild Inuzuka Clan," the pug spoke.

"So…do you have a name?" Zelda looked at the pug closely. Odd…he reminds her a lot like Kakashi, with the way he presents himself.

The pug looked at her. "The name's Pakkun, I'm one of Kakashi's ninkin."

"Kakashi?" So _that's_ who's been looking for her.

_ Zelda, I estimate that the man known as "Kakashi" is not far from here._

Zelda froze.

'You, you can talk to me through my mind?' she thought.

_I apologize…_

_Yes, I can communicate with you telepathically._

Zelda inwardly shook her head. She's never received so many surprises in her life. But sure enough, Kakashi appeared in front of her, not the slightest trace of fatigue on him.

"Ah, there you are Zelda. Izumo and Kotetsu were getting worried, so I offered to come find you," the silver-haired copy-nin spoke, "I see you met my best tracker of my ninken team." His eyes turned serious. "Just what were you thinking going outside of Konoha at night, with Orochimaru on the loose?"

Zelda was silent. That was when Kakashi noticed the harp and the sword on her back.

"And…why do you have a harp and sword with you?"

"Kakashi…I remember," Zelda looked at him in the eye. "I remember everything about Skyloft, my homeland, my Loftwing, the black tornado, how I got here. _Everything_." She held out the plume from her Loftwing as proof. "See, this plume came from my Loftwing. She's here…somewhere."

Kakashi looked at the plume with mild interest. It certainly was big, colorful, and shiny. "I see, and what do you plan to do?" he asked her.

"I plan to return," she replied, "With the use of the Goddess Sword and Harp. There are three forms of power I need to get. I just received one of them here." Zelda looked up at the sky, which was beginning to brighten upon dawn. "After getting those powers, I must thrust the sword upon the highest place in Konoha and play the Ballad of the Goddess."

Kakashi scratched his head, "Do you…have any idea where to find the other two powers?" He was having hard time absorbing all of this. Ballad? Harps? Powers?

Zelda's face dropped. "No, not a clue."

Kakashi walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You've got time, it's not like you're in a hurry."

Zelda's eyes widened. "But I technically am," she told Kakashi who raised an eyebrow. "The Goddess said that the followers of a great evil are looking for me. Here, not back in Skyloft and the Surface." Kakashi's eyes narrowed at her statement. He gestured for them to start walking back.

"Speaking of evil, Zelda who was with you that day I saw you on the other side of the gates that lead to the Forrest of Death?" Kakashi asked her as they were walking.

Zelda put a thoughtful look on her face, "A man who saved me from the clutches of Orochimaru. I think his name was Ghirahim."

"You had a run in with Orochimaru?"

Kakashi had stopped walking. They were at the bottom of the cliff, the same one where Kakashi had saved her from her fall 5 years ago.

"Well, it was when I was in the Forest of Death looking for Naruto and the other two to warn them about Orochimaru. If it weren't for Ghirahim, he'd probably put the Curse Seal on me as well," Zelda replied.

"Zelda, that man you who saved you is not a good person," Kakashi told her.

"How do you know?"

Kakashi sighed. "I didn't have to see him just to determine it, Zelda. Once you've fought many enemies, like me, you know evil when you come across it." He lowered his head. "And what's more, is that he had a sense of _pur_e evil about him. Usually the enemies I've faced were misunderstood people, outcasts, or normal people who are just greedy and selfish. Heck, even Orochimaru was one of those people. But not _that _man."

They continued walking.

"I understand," Zelda said softly. Kakashi almost stopped again if he hadn't reminded himself that he was suppose to get her back _into_ Konoha.

"When I first met him, Ghirahim, something within me…was telling me not to trust him. That he was bad. But I couldn't _not_ trust him, not at the time. Besides, I have a lot of questions to ask. And he saved me from Orochimaru, I owe him at least something," Zelda explained.

"But what if he did that because he _knew_ it would be a way to gain your trust," Kakashi suggested. He stopped walking again. "From what you're telling me, and what I'm sensing, this "Ghirahim" knows a lot about you Zelda, probably more than you know yourself."

"I don't have to worry about people taking advantage of me not knowing my past, Kakashi," Zelda told the masked ninja, a hint of edge in her voice. And right there, Zelda decided to not tell Kakashi about Ghirahim and his "master."

"I'm just…I'm worried for you, Zelda."

She smiled at him. "Well don't be. As soon as I find where these two other springs are, I'll be on my way." They kept walking and could see the top of the gates. "So, what were the other matches for the prelims? Who won?"

Kakashi tilted his head up. "Well, let's see…after you left, Lee was up against Gaara, but he lost his match. Although he did put up a great fight, even taking off his leg weights and performing the Lotus Technique that Gai had taught him, he was only able to crack the sand barrier around Gaara." Kakashi's eye turned dark. "That's when things started going wrong. Gaara had a killing intent in his eyes."

Zelda got a shivered down her back.

"He crushed Lee's left arm and leg, and the medics say that he might not be able to continue on the path of a shinobi."

Zelda gasped. "That's so…Lee wouldn't…he would never…all of his hard work, wasted," she said in a sad voice.

"Not really. Because of Lee's hard work, he was able to get this far," Kakashi countered, "And who knows, he might make a come back someday. The last match was between Chouji and Dosu, a sound nin. I have no doubt that you've seen the extent of Chouji's abilities; however, Dosu was able to transmit those sound attacks using the water in Chouji's body. Chouji lost in the prelims."

They reached the entrance. Izumo and Kotetsu were on the verge of falling asleep.

"Some guards you guys make," Kakashi said with a light heart and the two chunin snapped awake.

"Kakashi!" Kotetsu cried, and then noticed Zelda beside the copy-nin, "Oh, Zelda…"

"You really gave us a scare there. I thought we agreed that you had 10 minutes to explore. I even gave you an extra 10 minutes to get back," Izumo said in a mock hurt voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you or get you in trouble," Zelda said as she looked down at the ground. Izumo noticed the sword and Kotetsu noticed the harp that was with her. Before they could ask her they got a warning glance from Kakashi telling them not to.

"Well, we're glad your safe," Izumo said with a smile while his partner nodded in agreement.

Kakashi and Zelda bid the two chunin a good night (or a good morning), and went on their way, back to Naruto and Zelda's apartment. Kakashi walked her to the door. There was an awkward moment between the two.

"So...what now?" she asked, "When are the finals again?"

"Not till a month from now," Kakashi replied, "This was made so that the finalist would have some time to prepare and heal themselves from injuries sustain from the earlier parts. You might as well relax and try not to overwhelm yourself. Naruto won't be back from training until then."

The girl nodded mutely. She just really wanted to go back to bed now.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later," Kakashi said before poofing away.

_ Mistress Zelda…I sense that your energy is low, and it is recommended that you sleep._

"I agree," Zelda sleepily said as she opened the door, fell onto her bed, and welcomed the darkness.

88888888

_One month later…_

Zelda was making her way towards the arena for the Finals. She was so excited. She was going to see Naruto today!

_Mistress Zelda, I sense that your Loftwing is here..._

_In the village._

She'd carried the sword on her back and held the harp in her hand. There was no way she was going to leave those items anywhere. They were glued to her.

Zelda's eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked out loud. She closed her eyes, and felt it! It was faint, but there definitely a sense of familiarity within it.

_But I must warn you; I sense that your Loftwing is in danger…_

_It seems agitated and panicked._

_Take great caution should you come upon it, Your Grace._

Zelda's face broke. Her Loftwing, in danger? And panicked? Zelda's heart began to race. She needed to find her Loftwing, and quick! She walked faster to the arena. She was soon stopped by Raido, one of the elite jounin, and personal guard of the Third Hokage.

"Miss, Zelda," he greeted her, "Lord Hokage would like to see you before the Finals start. I am to escort you to him."

Zelda blinked, before following the jounin into the arena, and up the stairs to a room that was just reserved for the Hokage and Kazekage.

"Ah, Zelda, how are you doing?" the old man greeted upon seeing the girl.

"I'm very well thank you," she replied.

"Good. That's very good," he said, "I have heard from Kakashi that you remember everything from your past?"

"Yes sir."

"And that you have a mission of your own?"

"Yes sir, in order to return to my home."

The Third Hokage placed his pipe in his mouth. "I wish you great luck then," he told her with a smile.

Zelda returned the smile. "Thank you very much. For everything."

The Third Hokage nodded and turned his attention back to the arena, observing the other finalists.

"Hm…Naruto isn't here yet," he murmured to himself. But Zelda caught it. She only shook her head and turned to go until a tingling sensation hit her right on the head. To make matters worse she heard a loud bird's cry, one could tell that it came from a very large bird.

Zelda turned her head to the side and noticed a figure in white robes, a white cloth covering his face, flanked by body guards were coming toward them. Zelda's eyes widened. Behind the four figures, was a large cage held by four people, one person on each corner. The cage gave another cry, and quick flash of a purplish blue color was all Zelda needed. It wasn't until the Kazekage sat down, that she saw the entire beast. In that cage…

…was her Loftwing.

**A/N:** WAAAAAAAAA can't you just feel the suspense now? You'll have to read the next chapter to find out what happens! Stay tuned for the Finals of the Chunin Exam, The attack on Konoha by Sound and Sand, and the death of the Third Hokage! Please review and/or put this story on your alert/favorite yadda yadda yadda. Huge thanks to those who did! I really appreciate it


	7. The Invasion of Konoha

**A/N: **__I don't own Naruto or Zelda.

Chapter 7

She watched as her Loftwing struggled in the cage, and tried to reach out to it with her mind, but the Loftwing rejected it.

_Mistress, connection with your Loftwing is futile right now…_

_Its mind is too panicked to sense you._

"Ah, the Kazekage, I am glad you are able to join us for the Chunin Exam finals," the Third Hokage greeted, "I can only regret that it takes place here."

"Not at all," the Kazekage responded behind the white cloth, "I'm only glad, for your sake, that the arena is here in the Leaf Village. As strong as you are, I'm sure a long journey would've proven difficult for you, at your age."

Zelda saw Raido give the Kazekage a cautious look. When the people carrying the cage put it down, the Third Hokage noticed the bird. "My goodness, what a large bird you have," he commented.

"Do you like it?" the Kazekage asked, "We saw it in our lands and hoped to train it somehow, but the blasted thing just won't listen to us. We decided that it would go to whoever from sand wins their match."

'What!' Zelda thought in her mind.

"If I remember correctly, you have three sand genin participating in the finals," the Third Hokage said, "What if all of them won their matches?"

"They must fight for the bird," The Kazekage replied.

Zelda stepped up. "Release it right now!" she demanded.

The Kazekage looked at her with a strange eye. Something about the way he looked at her reminded Zelda of a certain snake sanin.

"Zelda, that is no way to talk to the Kazekage of the Sand Village," The Third Hokage scolded the girl.

"But that bird belongs to me," Zelda explained, "That's my Loftwing!"

"Silence you insolent girl!" one of the Kazekage's guards shouted at her.

"Let her go!" Zelda insisted.

"Little girl, that bird is dangerous," the Kazekage said in a monotone voice, "But, if it does indeed belong to you, then approach it and prove it to us."

Zelda glared at the man before walking up to the cage. Almost immedietly the Loftwing became calm for a moment. Everyone's eyes were on her. Zelda looked at her Loftwing dead in the eye, and attempted to reach out again. She felt her Loftwing slowly accept her familiarity, but when it saw her arm reach out toward it, it started to thrash, giving out loud cries.

Zelda retracted her hand immedietly with a gasp.

_Something must have happened for it to reject you…_

_I predict a 88% chance that it would have reacted better to you had it not been caged._

"I knew it," she heard one of the people who had held the cage murmur.

The Kazekage had a smug look in his eye. "Looks like it doesn't belong to you after all."

Zelda balled up her fists. "Of course it rejected me, she can't think straight! She's in a cage for Hylia's sake, Loftwings aren't meant to be in a cage. They're meant to be free and fly wherever they want!" she cried.

"Zelda!" The Third Hokage shouted, his eyes were serious.

"I have a plume to prove it. This plume was found on the outskirts of Konoha, around the same area that Kakashi found me. My Loftwing was with me, but she probably flew off in a panic to find me!"

"ZELDA!" Zelda looked at the old man. "That is, enough. Now, apologize to the Kazekage and take your seat along the stands below."

Zelda's eyes filled with disbelief as she was dismissed. She mumbled her apology as she made her way out of the balcony room and into the stand.

_Mistress, do you remember those three techniques I told you about?_

_You could have used Din's fire to free your Loftwing._

'Of course! Why didn't I think that?' Zelda thought.

_I would recommend not using that now…_

_It seems the event known, as the "Chunin exams," will now begin._

"Heeeey! Zelda!"

She turned around to see Sakura waving at her, Ino by her side. "Come sit by us!" she offered.

Zelda smiled and walked over to the two kounoichi. Just as she did, Naruto came flying from into the arena from the entrance.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried.

"He made it!" Zelda added.

"Yeah, but he's totally late…of course," Ino said with her arms crossed.

_Mistress, I can tell by your increased heart rate that this boy and you have a bond of some sort._

'That's Naruto. He's the guy I've been living with since I first arrived. He's been like a brother to me,' Zelda thought.

_It pleases me to no end that you've found such friends, Mistress._

Zelda smiled, and watched as the Finals began.

"Here are the rules," the proctor, Genma, began, "The match continues until the other acknowledges defeat or dies. That being said, if I determine that a match is over I can step in and stop it at any time. And no arguments permitted! Understood?"

Everyone looked serious.

"These are the opponents for the first match: Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga. Those two stay, the rest of you can go to the waiting area."

"Hey Sakura," Ino asked, "I know you're worried about Sasuke. But c'mon, don't be such a lump aren't you going to at least cheer Naruto on?"

Sakura looked at Ino, and then smiled. "You're right."

"That's more like it. Not that the hopeless little runt has a chance of winning," Ino replied with a smug look.

"He's not that bad," Sakura defended.

"Are you kidding? "Not that bad?" Is that the best you can do?" Ino taunted.

"Well, he's come this far hasn't he?" Zelda pointed out. Ino just looked at her before crossing her arms.

"Yeah well, he won the prelims with dumb luck."

Zelda smiled. "But even if he has a small chance of winning, luck or not, it's better than having no chance at all," she said. Her pointed ears suddenly picked up her Loftwing's faint cry. She frowned and looked up.

_Mistress, you're Loftwing is safe for now…_

_I've predicting that it has endured harsh training with the people who caged it…_

_Which would explain why it reacted to you the way it did._

'Harsh training?' Zelda thought.

_I believe the term is, "abuse,"…_

Zelda's eyes widened. "No," she whispered.

"What's wrong, Zelda?" Ino asked her.

"Um, nothing. Nothing I'm fine," Zelda quickly reassure her, and looked on with the match between Naruto and Neji.

She watched in horror as Neji quickly took the blonde-haired ninja down with his taijutsu techniques. But Naruto wasn't giving up. He executed his multishadow clone jutsu, making sure that one of them was far from them. Neji, thinking it was the real Naruto, when in for the pounce, and was startled when the clone just smirked and disappeared in a poof.

Then, two other clones went from went to attack Neji from behind. But Neji used the Eight Trigrams Palm Revolving Heaven technique, forcing the Narutos away from him. Neji quickly took the opportunity to take down the vulnerable shinobi, and executed the Gentle Fist, blocking all of Naruto's chakra points.

"Stop this madness, you'll only get more of the same," Neji warned the boy, "I have nothing against you personally."

"Heh, that's touching, you're gonna make me cry," Naruto smirked, "Anyway, I've got _plenty_ against you."

The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you mean."

"You don't?" Naruto spat, "And here I thought you were Mr. know-it-all. You don't remember what you did to Hinata, huh? The way you worked on her with your mind games, tearing her down when she worked so hard to get here!"

"Never mind that, it doesn't concern you," Neji was getting agitated.

"You mocked Hinata, calling her a failure," Naruto continued, "All that stuff about the great Hyuuga clan, main household, branch families, who cares? It doesn't give you the right to decide who's a failure, that's what I've got against you!"

"Very well, since you're so interested I'll tell you about it," Neji said in a mocking voice, "The Hyuuga clan's heritage of hatred!"

Zelda sighed, as the Hyuuga branch member began his story. She watched as he took off his forehead protector revealing the seal that was placed on his forehead. She closed her eyes.

"Poor Neji," Sakura commented.

"Yeah, it's no wonder he's such a sour puss," Ino added.

"I pity him," Zelda whispered under her breath. The two kounoichi looked at her with interest. "I've tried to tell Neji, that becoming a branch member isn't a curse, nor does it prevent him from going forward. I pity him, because even though he goes on telling people their own destiny, he hasn't even accepted his own destiny of being a branch member of his clan. Neji has so much potential, but it's hindered by his hatred of the main branch." She continued to watch the exchange between the two genin.

Naruto put his hands together.

'Alright you stinkin fox, if you're in there, lend me your power!' he thought as he closed his eyes. He felt something within him stir.

Neji's eyes widened as his Byakugan saw orange chakra flowing within the spikey blonde-haired boy.

'What? That's impossible!' he thought, 'Where is all that chakra coming from? Or…is it _even _chakra!'

The chakra swirled within Naruto, going to each part of his body until it looked like a huge flame. Suddenly, it transformed into the eye of the Nine-tailed fox, startling the poor Hyuuga boy.

'What _is_ he?' Neji thought has the chakra seeped around Naruto, creating small winds with it. Everyone looked in awe as the orange chakra healed Naruto.

'So,' Zelda thought to herself, 'All that training Naruto was doing, was actually helping him harness the chakra of the Nine-tailed fox.'

Everyone in the stands, including the Kazekage and Gaara, both looked in awe at the chakra around Naruto.

When the chakra around him dissipated, Naruto launched himself at Neji, faster than before. Surprised, Neji quickly repelled the attack. Some more fighting ensued, and finally, Naruto was down on the ground once again, seemingly unconscious.

"Sorry, but this is reality. You're a failure," Neji said, "This match…is over."

He suddenly stopped as he felt a presence underneath him.

"Naruto" disappeared with a poof, to reveal a hole.

Suddenly, a crack formed underneath him, and Naruto came up, punching Neji under the chin. He fell to the ground. With all his chakra used up, he was rendered useless.

"I should've known you'd use your Shadow Clone jutsu. It _is_ your specialty after all," the Hyuuga boy spat, "I was careless."

Naruto panted, out of energy himself. "For the record," he told Neji, "I failed the graduation exam _three_ times. Cause there was this one jutsu…that was always on the exam. And it tripped me up, _every _time. It was the one jutsu, that I just couldn't master."

Neji's eyes widened as realization dawned on him.

"My clones were pathetic," Naruto continued, "That's right, I flunked the Shadow Clone jutsu every time. So don't come whining to me about this destiny stuff, and stop trying to tell me you can't change who you are. You can do it too, cause after all, unlike me you're not a "failure."

Genma smirked. The kid had guts. He raised his hand. "The winner is, Naruto Uzumaki."

Everyone in the stands cheered. Naruto looked up in surprise. Everyone was cheering, for _him_. His face widened as he smiled. He punched the air and ran around the arena, waving to the people.

Genma watched as medial nins came to take Neji away. "Even a caged bird is smart enough, and will be able to figure out how to open the door to its cage with its beak. The dream of flying and breaking free, is too great to resist. But this time, you lost," he told the boy before he was carried away.

The next match was between Sasuke and Gaara, but since Sasuke wasn't there, they decided to move the match between Shikamaru and Temari up. Temari went ahead and took her place in the arena.

"Alright, we'll move to the next match. You up there, come down," Genma said looking at Shikamaru.

"Aw come on. What are you doing moving these matches up like this? Why does it have to be _my_ stupid match that has to be next, oh man this is such a drag!" Shikamaru was getting nervous.

"Shikamaru Nara, come on," Genma called to the genin, who was freaking out.

Shikamaru hesitated. Suddenly, Naruto came up from behind him and gave him a slap on the back.

"Alright! Go on Shikamaru, you can do it!" Naruto yelled and Shikamaru fell over the railing, plummeting down to the ground. He landed on his back.

'Naruto you jerk,' he thought as trash was thrown at him. Temari just raised an eyebrow. _This_ was her opponent?

Since Temari had seen the battle between him and Kin, she already knew what to expect, so she stayed a good distance away from the boy. Shikamaru, knowing his butt would be kicked, hid in the shadows that were created by the arena wall, plotting. Temari was rewash relentless. With her giant fan, she gave off huge winds. Shikamaru was hit, but because of the trees, he wasn't hit as badly. Finding refuge behind one of the huge trees, he continued his plotting.

After what seemed like a while, he looked up, ready to start the match. Suddenly, a shadow came out and headed towards Temari who jumped back. When it seemed like it had stopped, she made a mark with her fan. Feeling confident in herself, she was about to attack until she saw something in the air.

It was Shikamaru's jacket tied to a kunai.

Kankuro shouted something to her, and Temari was barely able to escape the shadow that had suddenly come back to life. It stopped again, reaching its point and Temari made another line. She opened her fan and set it down n front of her. Certain that this time, the shadow couldn't move any further, she was about to make an attack when her body couldn't move.

"I should've known. All that time you were just stalling for time, to make more shadows," she said to Shikamaru in a strained voice, "But how did you—"

"Look behind you, _I'll_ show you," Shikamaru told her while turning his head. Temari turned her head as well and was shocked to find the hole that Naruto had made from his match. The shadows came out of it, and struck her.

"Don't you recognize that hole?" he asked her, "That's the one Naruto came up and threw Neji in a loop hole. The one in front of you is where he dug into the ground. The two…are connected."

"Now I see," Temari said, with angry eyes, "I never thought about the shadows underground."

Shikamaru looked at her with bored eyes. "That was your mistake." He walked towards her, Temari doing the same. She looked at him with worried eyes. Shikamaru raised his hand, Temari copying the gesture. As much as she tried, she couldn't gain control of her body. They waited.

"Okay, that's it. I give up," Shikamaru sighed after the pause.

Temari's eyes widened. "What?" she said in disbelief.

"WHAT?" Ino cried.

Chouji, who was sitting beside her, opened up another bag of chips. "Told you he'd forfeit the match. Looks like I know Shikamaru better than you do," he told his teammate.

"What? What did you say?" Temari gasped.

"I used up all my chakra on that Shadow Possession jutsu. I'm good for about another ten seconds, and that's it," the lazy boy explained as he lowered his arm. "Bummer," he sighed, "And I here I had planned out the next 200 moves in my head. But, my chakra's running low. Anyway if I _was_ to win this thing…it would just mean more work." He shrugged.

Genma nodded, but on the inside, he was surprised with boy. The kid's smart. With him as a captain on the battlefield, his intelligence would make sure everyone came back alive.

"The winner is, Temari."

Zelda clapped her hands along with everyone else. She had to give Shikamaru credit. It took guts to win, but it took even more guts to know when you're at your limit. She stopped clapping as she heard another cry from her Loftwing. Having enough, she stood up.

"Huh? Where are you going Zelda?" Ino asked.

"I, have to go to the restroom," Zelda quickly replied. At least it was a better lie than the one she had with Kotetsu and Izumo.

She exited the stands and made her way up the stairs. The door leading to the balcony room was open just a bit, but she saw some guards on the other side. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes, and a ball of flame appeared in her hand. She guided it through the door and towards the cage

"What the—what is that?" one of the Kazekage's guards stuttered.

As soon as the ball of flame read the catch, it went out with an explosion, causing the cage to break. Startled by the explosion, the Loftwing screech and thrashed about. Realizing that it was free, it hurried to the ledge and launched itself in the air. Raido quickly positioned himself by the Third Hokage, looking around for any more balls of flame.

Zelda quickly hurried back to the stands, praying that she wouldn't get caught. The people in the stands watched in awe as they saw the huge purplish blue bird.

"What is that?" Ino asked.

"I don't know. But what do you think that explosion was?" Sakura said.

Zelda appeared by their side.

"Oh, hey Zelda. You just missed the coolest thing! A huge bird just came by!" Ino said excitedly.

Zelda smiled. "Do tell." She only hoped that her Loftwing would stay within the area.

"Don't let it get away! GO! GO!" she heard the Kazekage shout.

But it was too late, the Loftwing was already high up in the air, away from the sand nin, and away from everyone's sight.

"How dare you let that bird get away!" The Kazekage told his guards, who winced underneath his glare. He then whipped around to face the Third Hokage.

"You did this didn't you? Jealous that we had something you didn't?"

The Third Hokage kept calm. "On the contrary, I had no intention of taking the bird away from you. But I do know of someone who might have done it." He turned to Raido. "Would you mind fetching Zelda for me?" Raido nodded before leaving.

"I want that girl punished," The Kazekage said.

"Now, let's not be too hasty. We don't even know if she's the one who did it," The Third Hokage reasoned.

Ino and Sakura squealed as they saw Sasuke appear on the field. Zelda only rolled her eyes. She suddenly saw Raido appear in the stands.

'Uh oh,' she thought. She sank down in her seat, trying to blend in with the crowd. But it didn't work.

"Miss Zelda, the Hokage would like to see you," he told the girl. With a sigh, she reluctantly followed the Leaf jounin.

She was met with the solemn gaze of the Third Hokage, and the angry gaze of the Kazekage. She took a deep breath, "You wished to see me?"

Before the Third Hokage could speak, the Kazekage took over.

"How dare you release my bird!" he hissed. Zelda blinked.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"Don't play dumb you insolent girl!"

"Calm yourself, Lord Kazekage," The Third Hokage mediated, "Zelda, a ball of flame had destroyed the bird's cage." He looked at her in the eye. "Did you do it?"

Zelda looked right back, determined not to get caught. "Lord Hokage, I know you know that I do not have any talent to be a ninja, therefore, I don't think I'd be able to free my Loftwing without you knowing," she said as honestly as she could make it. And apparently it had worked because the Third Hokage nodded his head. He turned to the Kazekage.

"See, the girl admits that she didn't do it."

"I don't care, I want that bird back," The Kazekage declared.

"The bird didn't belong to you in the first place!" Zelda said coldly.

"A-ha! So you _did_ free it," one of the guards pointed at her.

The Third Hokage sighed and rubbed his head. They were acting like children! "Let's discuss this _after_ the exam, shall we?" he suggested, but at the tone of his voice, he wasn't going to take "no" as an answer. "Zelda, you will meet in the Hokage's office afterwards, is that clear?"

She nodded meekly and turned to leave.

"Now, where were we?' The Third Hokage looked at the Kazekage with a light smile.

Zelda let out a sigh of relieve as she sat back down next to Ino. She was surprised to see Kakashi, Gai, and Lee. She quickly greeted the trio with a smile.

"What was all _that_ about?" she asked."

"It was just misunderstanding, that's all," Zelda replied with a small smile.

Gaara just walked onto the field. It was like a Mexican standoff.

"Both of you, to the middle," Genma ordered.

Sasuke cracked his neck before walking. Gaara walked as well, his smirk growing. Genma waited for a moment, before giving the signal for the battle to start.

Immediately sand started seeping out of the gourd. Sasuke tried his best to attack the boy from sand, but it was futile. The sand took any attacks that he had, protecting Gaara. Suddenly, the sand incased Gaara, destroying any hope for Sasuke landing one on him. Any attack he tried on the sand, would result in him quickly backing away as the sand would retaliate by attacking back.

Having no other choice, Sasuke started concentrating his chakra in one hand. It started out as a small ball, and grew, lightening sporadically moving around it.

Gai's eyes widened. "I now know why it took Sasuke so long to come here, you've been teaching him that technique. Chidori." He looked at his rival with questioning eyes.

"Now you know why I always insisted on training Sasuke myself. It's because he's like me," the silver-haired nin replied.

Sasuke ran down the side of the arena, the chidori glowing brightly in his hand. Pulling his hand back, he plunged it towards the barrier, which gave way, and he hit Gaara on the shoulder.

Temari and Kankuro looked on with surprise.

"No way!" Kankuro exclaimed.

"No one's ever been able to break through his sand barrier!" Temari added.

Sasuke had a smirk on his face, but it didn't last long. As he felt something else within the barrier, he prepare another chidori, but all of a sudden, a monstrous looking hand/paw pushed him out. Gaara was now encased in an orb of sand, a hole where Sasuke broke though remained. Suddenly, the sand started to go away and into the gourd, a different look in Gaara's eye.

"I knew it, he's hurt," Temari cried in a worried voice, "The shell broke before the chain was complete!"

Gaara started breath heavily, as if gasping for air.

In the stands, everyone started falling asleep. Naruto was one of them. Forgetting about why he was yelling at his sensei, he felt his eyelids droop.

"What's going on?" he said groggily, "Everything's getting all…fuzzy." And with that, he fell asleep on the floor, where Shikamaru was also asleep.

"Kakashi, can you feel it?" Gai asked his eternal rival.

"Yeah, a genjutsu."

Kakashi, Gai, and any other jounin quickly released the genjutsu. Sakura, also noticing, released it as well.

Zelda had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't feeling sleepy at all. She wasn't even using Nayru's Shield.

_Mistress, according to my calculations, the person you know as the "Hokage," is in great danger._

And on that cue, everyone heard and saw an explosion happen at the Hokage's balcony.

'I'll never get there in time…on foot at least," Zelda thought. She quickly concentrated her power around herself and thought of the room she had just been in. She started glowing a green light. She soon disappeared with a green light and gold ribbons whirling around her.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" Sakura exclaimed.

88888888

She landed in the room that was now filled with smoke.

"Lord Hokage, you must flee. Escape now!" she heard Raido choke out before he went unconscious.

Narrowing her eyes, she executed Nayru's Shield just as four kunai made their way towards her. The kunai hit the shield and fell to the ground. The smoke also started clearing up since it the shield had to whirl around her when it first began. She was surprised to see the Kazekage holding the Third Hokage hostage. Her suspicions earlier were correct. She quickly formed Din's Fire in her hand.

"You just never quit, do you?" She asked.

The Kazekage looked at her, eyeing the ball of flame in her hand. "And you're a nuisance. So you _were _the one who let my bird escape."

She shrugged. "Like I said, it didn't belong to you." She narrowed her eyes. "And the reason why it wouldn't obey any of _you_ is because it has one and _only _one master…mistress, in my case."

The Kazekage looked at her. "Is this some kind of trap for you? Where's that demon lord of yours? Will he come to protect you again?"

Zelda held her glare. "No, Orochimaru. It's just me."

The Third Hokage's eyes widened. All of them could sense fighting among the stands.

The Third Hokage noticed a figure creeping up on Zelda. But before he could warn her, the figure had already captured her, restraining her so that she couldn't move. It was one of the Kazekage's guards.

"Let me go," she yelled as she tried to struggle.

"Well, since he's not here to save you, we might as well have a little fun. If you _are _its master, then perhaps…you should be able to survive _this_," the Kazekage said while he nodded to his guards.

"No!" The Third Hokage cried. But he was suddenly taken away by the "Kazekage," the guards on their heels.

The guard nodded and ran to the edge of the balcony, jumping off. She gasped as he then released her, leaving her to her falling death.

Zelda did the only thing she could do at that moment, which was to scream.

88888888

_Meanwhile back at the stands with Kakashi and Gai…_

"What a nuisance," Kakashi commented as a couple of Sound nins present themselves.

"An enemy masquerading as an ANBU black ops," Gai added, "So he was using genjutsu."

"Yeah, there was no mistake," Kakashi said.

They watched as a barrier went up where the Kazekage and Hokage were. One of the Leaf ANBU tried going after them, but was burned in the process. Meanwhile, somewhere close to the border of the village, three huge snakes were summoned.

"Quite a lot of them, huh?" Kakashi spoke.

Gai had a frown on his face. "We'd been careless. And now even Lord Hokage." He looked over at the barrier. "Kakashi…look there inside the barrier!" The silver haired nin looked where Gai was looking. Sakura followed suit.

They all saw Orochimaru dressed in the Kazekage's robes.

"Orochimaru," Kakashi growled.

Sakura stood up in surprise. "What? Orochimaru?" she said in a worried voice.

'Why is he here?' she thought, 'Don't tell me he's after Sasuke again.'

Sasuke.

Realization dawned on her. She whipped her head around to look at the arena. "Hey Sasuke," she yelled. But he was nowhere to be found. Neither were the Sand Siblings. Suddenly, she found two Sound nin heading right for her. She ducked and covered her head, waiting for the blow to come, but it didn't.

CLANG!

She heard two bodies fall, and looked up. Kakashi was standing protectively in front of her. He looked at her between his legs, a light smile on his face.

"Sakura," he began, "Just stay there, while I trim the enemy's numbers down to size."

And the battle between the Leaf nin and Sound nin began. Aoba quickly took down some of the Sound nins. He jumped up and landed on the railing before executing a fire jutsu. Meanwhile, on the arena floor, Genma and Baki were having a Mexican stand off. Kakashi and Gai quickly took down two Sound nin with taijutsu. They ended up back to back.

"Nicely done," Gai said, "But I'm worried about Lord Hokage."

"Leave that to the ANBU Black Ops, we have enough to handle here," Kakashi said, "Besides, Lord Hokage isn't just some push over you know."

"Yeah but—"

"Just remember Gai, he _is_ the Hokage. He can handle it."

Suddenly, they both heard a scream and looked out so see Zelda falling.

"Zelda!" they both yelled, but they couldn't get to her. The Sound nins kept coming.

88888888

She was falling to her death, screaming at the top of her lungs, and griping the harp tightly to her body. She was falling headfirst to the ground. It wasn't supposed to end this way!

Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes.

Wait a second…why was she screaming? She freed her Loftwing didn't she? But she couldn't sense it. Did it go off and fly away, no it couldn't have. Either way, she had to try.

88888888

_She spread her arms out, slowing her fall. Putting both hands to her mouth, she gave a nice long whistle._

_88888888_

She maneuvered herself so that her front was face the ground. One arm was spread out, the other clutching the harp. Because of the different shape her body made, she was able to slow her fall slightly. Bringing her free hand to her mouth, she gave a loud, smooth, whistle.

_FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

She waited, too long for her liking. The ground was getting closer.

'Well, I guess this is it,' she thought as she closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly, she felt something fly past her, and she landed on something soft.

88888888

Kakashi tried his best to get away from the Sound nins. 'Damnit!' he thought, 'I can't let her die!' But the Sound nins were relentless. Having enough, he grunted as he finished off the Sound nin he was fighting with, and sprinted towards Zelda. 'Just hang on Zelda!' he thought. He heard her give a whistle.

And suddenly stopped when he noticed a big purplish blue bird dive down towards her, his eye wide.

'What the-' he thought, 'What is that?'

He watched as the bird caught her just as she was about to hit the ground, and soared upwards.

Zelda opened her eyes, to find herself in the air. She looked down at what carried her and a smile lit her face.

"My friend, you came for me!" she cried before taking the saddle in her free hand. As if reading her thoughts, her Loftwing gave a soft croon.

The reunion was cut short as a couple of kunai were thrown at the pair. The Loftwing was able to dodge them, but gave a cry of surprise. Zelda looked down at the attackers. Sand nins. Eyes narrowed, she urged her Loftwing to dive down towards them, Nayru's Shield covering them both. As they dove for the nins, they had a barrage of kunai and shuriken thrown at them, but they were deflected by the translucent blue shield. She slung the harp over one arm, and formed Din's fire in her other hand, and sent a barrage of fireballs in retaliation. All though she didn't kill anyone, she injured some and scared others.

Satisfied, she turned her attention on the three snakes that were stomping around the village. She gently tugged on the saddle, and they sped towards one of the snakes. She led her Loftwing close enough to on of the snakes without getting eaten, jumped off, and landed on the head.

_Mistress, draw the Goddess Sword and I shall guide you._

With the Goddess Harp still slung over one shoulder, she took one hand to grab the hilt of the sword on her back and drew it out. Feeling Fi's power and guidance through her, she thrust the sword into the head of the snake, and ran along the back neck of it. With the snake down, she used Farore's Wind to transport herself back in the air. She called for her Loftwing who quickly picked her back up and they headed for the second snake. Once again, she landed on the snake's head, sword in hand, and plunged it into the head, running along the neck. She repeated the process on the last snake.

She heard fighting going on the rooftops and looked over where the barrier was. She saw The Third Hokage combine a fire jutsu and an earth jutsu together. She transported herself back in the air and called for her Loftwing. Now on the back of her Loftwing, they sped towards the barrier.

Remembering what Professor Owlan had taught her about doing a spin charge with her Loftwing, she formed Din's Fire in her hand, and moved it towards the end of her Loftwing's beak without harming the bird. She then created Nayru's shield between her and the bird, and Din's Fire. Clutching the saddle with both hands, the Loftwing prepared itself for whatever her mistress was going to do.

The ANBU leader saw them approaching the barrier.

"Stop! You'll get burned if you touch it!" he cried out, trying to warn them.

But Zelda ignored him. When they were right above the barrier, she pressed down the saddle and moved it, giving the Loftwing the idea of rotation. The Loftwing gave a mighty flap of its wings, and as the wings came down it pressed it tight to its body as if to make itself a thin line, and started to twist starting with the head which caused the body to rotate as well. Zelda kept her body as close to her Loftwing as possible, not taking any chances of slowing their speed down. Because they were coming down on the barrier vertically, they kept gaining speed.

They got closer, and closer. And finally, they reached the barrier.

CRAAAAAAAAACK!

As they hit the barrier, they were immedietly erupted in flames. Her Loftwing gave a cry.

**A/N:** So that took wayyy longer than it should've. But anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, cause I sure did. Although reviews would be WONDERFUL *hint hint*, I would be just as happy with being put on your favorite story/alert story listing. Some people even put me on their favorite authors list O_~


	8. Sarutobi's Death, Accusations on Zelda

**A/N:** I do not own Naruto or Zelda.

Happy new year! Let's hope 2012 will be a good one

Chapter 8

Kakashi had been fighting with more Sound nins. He felt a little better that the big bird had caught Zelda, so she was safe from harm. He landed in front of his pink-haired student.

"Sakura," he called out. The girl lifted her head. "It was worth teaching you genjutsu for the survival training for the genin exam. You truly _do_ have a talent for it," he told her.

"Huh?" Sakura just blinked at her teacher.

"Release the genjutsu, and wake Naruto and Shikamaru. Naruto will be delighted, getting such a mission after a long time," Kakashi instructed.

"What kind of mission," Sakura asked.

"You'll have to be careful on this one," Kakashi warned, "It's the first A-rank assignment since the Land of the Waves."

Another Sound nin came at Kakashi, who blocked his attack and gave a counter attack, throwing the nin in back of him. Sakura ducked as the body was thrown her way.

"But sensei, what are you doing? With this battle going on, why send us on some mission?" Sakura cried.

Kakashi looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Sasuke's chasing Gaara and the other sand ninja," he replied.

"What?"

Kakashi lifted one of his kunai to his thumb, ready to slice it. "Sakura, release the genjutsu and wake Naruto and Shikamaru and follow Sasuke," he said as he sliced his thumb.

'I feel uneasy about that weird chakra,' Kakashi thought as he had a flashback of the weird paw/hand like appendage that shot out from Gaara's orb of sand.

"But…then…shouldn't we wake Ino and Chouji and go as a group?" Sakura suggested, a little intimidated.

"No time," Kakashi pointed out, "I fear that already many Sand and Sound nin have already infiltrated the village." He looked around himself, waiting for any other attacks from the Sound nin. "Besides," he continued, "If you have more than four essential ninja to a squad, it takes longer to get anything done, and becomes more difficult to hide from the enemy. You _did_ learn that at the academy patrol training, didn't you?" He looked at her from the corner from his eye once more.

Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered. "Of course," she said, "With four squad members, that means _you'll_ be coming with us, right?"

"No," Kakashi said as he started making hand-signs, "I must not leave this place." He placed his hand on back of the unconscious person in front of him.

"Summoning jutsu!"

Pakkun appeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura just looked at the dog.

"Huh?"

"Pakkun here will track Sasuke down by scent," Kakashi explained.

"Wait," Sakura said, "Seriously, our fourth member is a _puppy_?" She couldn't believe it.

Suddenly, the dog came towards her, and right up in her face. "Alright, listen little girl," he said, "Don't you go around and say that I'm just some cute little puppy."

Sakura gave him a fearful look. 'But, I didn't even say cute,' she thought.

"Okay, it's time. Sakura, go release the genjutsu," Kakashi ordered her.

Sakura got down on all fours and made her way quietly as possible to her blonde-teammate and Shikamaru. She made her way to Naruto first. Doing a couple hand signs, she released the genjutsu on him first.

"Release," and gently touched him on the back.

Naruto slowly woke up, his eyes groggily. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Hey, what's going on, Sakura?" he asked in a groggy voice.

Before Sakura could answer, she felt something heading towards them. "Get down!" she cried and pulled herself and Naruto down to the ground, dodging the kunai that had headed towards them. "I'll fill you in later, just stay down," she whispered to Naruto. She then crawled over to Shikamaru.

Just as she was about to release the genjutsu, she saw his eye twitch.

"Shikamaru…you were…this whole time?" Sakura muttered.

Pakkun walked up to Shikamaru's leg, and took a bite. After a few moments, Shikamaru was up, screaming his head off.

Sakura just clenched her fist. "You really scammed it too, you big faker! Why were you pretending to be asleep this whole time!"

Shikamaru successfully pulled Pakkun off of him. He sighed as he started poking and pulling at the dog's face, "I didn't want to get involved. Just gimmie a break, I couldn't care less about Sasuke." When he reached his hand across Pakkun's face, the dog took his chance and chomped down. Shikamaru screamed again, lifting his hand with Pakkun on it.

The sound of metal against metal filled the air. Naruto looked around in astonishment. He looked at the people unconscious, and the blurry streaks of ninjas fighting each other.

"Wha-what _is_ all this?" he asked himself.

A Sound nin suddenly appeared behind him, ready to strike.

Sakura gasped as Shikamaru looked on with a worried face. "Behind you!" Sakura cried.

But Naruto was frozen.

But the blow never came. Gai came as a blurry streak and pounded the Sound Nin into the wall.

"S-so…fast," the Sound Nin gasped.

"Not just fast, _powerful_," Gai corrected the nin before adding more pressure. A rumble was heard, and the Sound Nin went clear through the wall, creating a hole.

"Gai-sensei," Sakura breathed.

Kakashi landed before them, protecting the front while Gai protecting them from the back.

"Now, I'll explain the mission," Kakashi began, "As soon as I do, go through that opening. First, track down Sasuke and stop him. Then find a safe location and await further orders."

"Did something happen to Sasuke?" Naruto asked as Sakura came crawling over to him.

"I'll tell you what happened on the way," she told him, before grabbing him, "Now let's go!"

"Why me, what a drag," Shikamaru said in a lazy voice.

"Listen whiner," Pakkun said to the boy. Shikamaru looked at the dog.

"Huh?"

"If this mission is a success, as a reward I'll let you touch my paw…pads," Pakkun explained, "So there's no reason to sulk."

Shikamaru gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Come on. They're really soft," Pakkun prodded.

"They…what?"

Pakkun lowered his head, "No one ever wants to shake. But my paws are so soft and SUPPLE!"

Shikamaru just looked at the dog. The dog closed his eyes. "Forget, let's go," and he took Shikamaru's hand in his mouth and dragged the poor boy out.

Gai looked on. "Are they going o be okay by themselves?" he asked his rival.

"Yes, they'll be fine. Pakkun will protect them," Kakashi replied. 'As long as they don't go too far,' he thought to himself.

88888888

_Back on the rooftops_…

There was a standoff between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage.

"Hm, I never thought I'd get to battle you again," Orochimaru said to his former teacher.

The three ANBU Black Ops waited impatiently on the outside.

"This barrier can only be broken from the inside," one of them said, "If Lord Hokage would just take out one of those Sound Ninja, then we could help."

"Okay, let's get this show on the road," the guy with six arms said.

"Let's put up a barrier on the inside too," the girly looking man with pale lavender hair added.

"Right," the huge guy with orange hair said.

The girl with red hair said nothing.

Soon, a barrier sounded each individual who held the main barrier, and the Hokage noticed. "Hmph, looks like I won't be getting out of this," he said.

"Of course it won't be easy," the snake man replied, "I know you. It would be a big bother if someone got in here and in the way, wouldn't it?"

The Third Hokage said nothing, and only smiled and chuckled. They stared at each other for a while longer, before making a dash. The Third Hokage made a few hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Tile Shuriken!"

The tiles on the roof levitated and threw themselves at Orochimaru who dodged them with ease.

"This is too easy," Orochimaru said as he did a few hand signs of his own, "Striking Shadow Snake!" His long tongue transformed into a snake and with the quickness of a viper, struck the Third Hokage in the neck. He grunted as he tried to get the snake off.

"With a weak technique like that, there's no way you can beat me…Sarutobi-sensei," the snake-like man mocked. His eyes widened as his sensei started transforming into a brown mucky mess. He looked to his left to see the Third Hokage standing there.

"Earth Style: Great Mud River!"

Suddenly, the tiles beneath Orochimaru turned to mud, and started sliding down with great speed, like a mudslide. But Orochimaru wasn't going to have any of it.

"Is that all you got?" he taunted as he formed some hand signs.

"Far from it," Sarutobi said as he formed some of his own, "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Ball!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened. The Third continued.

"Fire Dragon Ball!"

Fire shot out of his mouth. The fire coated the mud balls in flames. Orochimaru was soon erupted in flames as he was hit.

"He combined fire and earth styles," one of the ANBU remarked, "Excellent Lord Hokage!"

The mud river then created a big wave, covering the fired Orochimaru, who screamed.

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. "You can stop you're little act, Orochimaru," he said.

Orochimaru chuckled as he suddenly came up fro the tiled ground. "Alright then. But fair's fair, it's foolish to underestimate me. Did you seriously think that you could kill me with such a pitiful jutsu?"

"Heh. Falling back on _taunts_ since you can't defeat me?"

Orochimaru's eyes turned sinister. "Aw, don't be angry with me. Difficult students are all the more rewarding to teach, right?" he asked, "Sarutobi-sensei." His snake-like tongue came out to lick is lips.

Both of them failed to noticed a figure in the sky heading towards them. They started at each other for a moment.

"Isn't it bout time we stopped playing around here. After all, this isn't an academy class," Orochimaru hissed.

"Heh, yes you do have a point," Sarutobi said as he closed his eyes and put a hand to his Hokage cap. And with that, he threw off his cap and robe. To reveal his ninja garb.

"Did you foresee this? Dyeing this way," Orochimaru asked.

Orochimaru removed his own robes to reveal his ninja clothing with a purple robe tied around his waist.

Suddenly, the air got thick.

"Woah, so much chakra," one ANBU member commented.

"Yes, so much that the air has become heavy with it. I can feel it barring down on me," Another added.

And the two ninjas, student and teacher, began their battle. Sarutobi threw a shuriken and began making hand signs, Orochimaru making hand signs of his own.

'Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!' Sarutobi completed his attack.

Immedietly the shuriken he threw multiplied.

Orochimaru put together his hands, palm against palm.

'Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation!'

Sarutobi gritted his teeth. 'No! That technique!" he thought

Two coffins appeared in front of Orochimaru.

"A summing jutsu used a shield" Sarutobi cried, "And what he summoned is…I must stop the third one!" He aimed his shuriken shadow clones at the third, and prevented it from coming up.

'I can't believe he summoned those two,' Sarutobi thought as the two coffins opened.

"That can't be! Those people are…" One of the ANBU cried as he saw the two figures.

"What? They're what?" The other urged his comrade.

"What are you going to do now, Sarutobi-sensei?" Orochimaru hissed, "What _can_ you do?"

The two coffins belonged to the First and Second Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.

"It'e been a very long time, Saru," The First Hokage spoke.

"Oh, it's you. You've gotten so old, Sarutobi," The Second Hokage added.

"Never in my life did I imagine that I would have to face against my brethren in this manner," Sarutobi scowled, "What a vile trick."

The Second Hokage turned to the first. "A summoning jutsu," he said, "It seems he's used the forbidden reanimation technique. How insolent."

The First Hokage looked at Sarutobi. "Then tell me, Sarutobi. Does this jutsu mean we're being forced, to battle with you?"

"Enough with the reminiscing!" Orochimaru interrupted, "It's time that we got started." Orochimaru held two kunai with tags on it.

"Whenever you live, there's always war," the First said to Orochimaru, who only chuckled.

"Isn't it great?"

"Nothing good can ever come of this!" Sarutobi shouted, "You've disrespected the dead and manipulated time!"

Orochimaru raised the kunai. And plunged it into the necks of the two former Hokages. Steam started to rise from them as they started to appear younger and less tattered and torn.

The sky turned dark.

"I've heard with this jutsu, that it summons the dead into the world of the living, demands a sacrifice of a living body, to be used as a vessel for the dead soul," the ANBU Black Ops said.

"Then, those are not their bodies…but two…living…sacrifices?" Another one asked.

"Right, but then the living bodies are encased in a shell of dust and earth that takes on the dead spirit's earthly form. Those cells he's implanting in their skulls, they _suck_ those spirits of their will and transforms them into its puppets! Meer killing machines."

Sarutobi's eyes widened.

"Ehehehehehe, now they're complete."

"Demon," Sarutobi rasped out, "They look just the same as I remember." His eyes glistened with tears.

"Have you ever felt the joy and fulfillment in humiliating and destroying the one you once called "sensei?"" Orochimaru asked, "No, I suppose not. Perhaps vicariously through me, you'll get a hint of what I mean. Just a taste…_before you die_." And with that, the two reanimated Hokages started moving towards Sarutobi.

"Stop! You'll get burned if you touch it!" they suddenly heard an ANBU shout from the outside of the barrier.

Everyone looked up to see something encased in a translucent blue shield around it, spinning down towards them. A ball of fire was at the tip heading down.

Finally, it reached the barrier.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Immedietly the object was engulfed in flames. A cry was heard.

But the flame-covered object was _inside_ the barrier. There was a huge hole from where it came from.

"What?" one of the ANBU members exclaimed.

"That's impossible!" Orochimaru roared.

The four Sound Nins who created their barrier tried their best to fix it, but it was a slow process.

The flames died down revealing the barrier, and also revealed Zelda on her Loftwing. She jumped off her Loftwing and landed on the rooftop between the trio and Sarutobi. Her Loftwing made a quick turnaround and headed out of the barrier before it closed shut.

Zelda unsheathed the Goddess Sword, and jumped when she felt the Goddess Harp disappear off her back.

_Mistress, the Harp is still with you…_

_But not in its physical form._

_When you need it, call upon it and it will appear._

Zelda gave a slight nod, before turning her attention to Orochimaru.

"All this, just for _one_ person?" she taunted,.

"You poor girl. You think you're a match for me?" Orochimaru laughed.

Zelda held her ground. "Sarutobi, I'll handle Orochimaru for you, while you concentrate on the two former Hokages before you." And with that, she started running towards the trio, intending to pass through the two reanimated Hokages. Her confidence grew as she felt Fi's power and guidance once again flowing throughout her body.

Orochimaru made a signal for the two former Hokages to attack her, but as soon as they reached for her, Zelda performed a spin attack causing them to jump back. She continued running towards Orochimaru, and she felt Fi left her arm and attempt to slash at the snake-man who dodged the attack.

Orochimaru chuckled, "Fine, if it's sword play you want…then it's _swordplay you'll get_." He put his hands on his stomach and pressed it. He opened his mouth as if he was going to vomit, and his tongue transformed into a snake, and a long sword made its way out of the snake's mouth/Orochimaru's mouth. When it was completely out, it teetered and then fell, landing hilt first in the snake-sanin's hand. Zelda's eyes widened as she became intimidated.

_Mistress, I will not let him harm you._

And then he attacked her. Zelda was dodging and blocking all of his attacks, with Fi's help. It was as if Fi had complete control over her body. When they clashed again, Orochimaru jumped back, and performed his Striking Shadow Snake, but he was stopped when Zelda created Nayru's Shield. No matter how much he attacked her, her shield wouldn't break.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi had his hands full fighting the First and Second Hokages. He tried his best to fight the First and Second, but they proved to be too powerful. The First used his wooden techniques. Sarutobi bit his thumb.

"Secret Earth Jutsu: Deep Forest Creation!"

Trees started popping up from the titled room. Sarutobi tried his best to dodge all the branches that were coming after him, but he was soon ensured. Tree branches wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and then a branch wrapped itself around his body, trapping him. He struggled against his bonds.

"Amazing, he uses his chakra as a life force!" one of the ANBU Black Ops remarked.

Zelda hesitated.

_No mistress! You must not leave yourself open!_

And she felt her arm that held the Goddess Sword block another attack of Orochimaru's. Fi had her perform another spin attack, and it made a small cut on Orochimaru's cheek. It started to sizzle, and the snake sanin grunted in pain.

"What is this jutsu?" he cried.

_The Goddess Sword…it's form is the lowest form of the Master Sword…_

_The Blade of Evil's Bane._

_It holds the power to repel and vanquish evil with a mere stroke._

Zelda smirked as she understood what Fi was talking about. "It's too bad my sword is at its lowest form, otherwise, that cut would have obliterated you." Orochimaru looked at her with mild interest. "It has the power to repel evil, eradicating it from the world," Zelda continued.

"Hmm…maybe I should just take the sword for myself then...hmm?"

"You can't," Zelda said as her smile got wider, "Only those with the purest hearts can wield it. People with hearts tainted, such as yourself, cannot even dream to hold it."

A sound of an explosion was heard where Sarutobi was, and as soon as the smoke cleared, there was a large monkey nin standing where Sarutobi had summoned him. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"So, a pesky newcomer has joined us," he commented as he blocked an attack that Zelda had made, "Go after him! You mustn't let him transform!" He ordered the First and the Second.

Enma freed his master, and transformed into a staff-like weapon. Orochimaru watched from the corner of his eye as the First and Second quickly took him down. As Sarutobi stood there paralyzed for the moment, Orochimaru clashed with Zelda one more time, this time pushing her away from him, hard. She rammed into a tree trunk, and was paralyzed from the pain of the impact for a moment.

Orochimaru thrust his sword in the tile of the roof. "He's mine!" And he charged at his vulnerable sensei, using taijutsu to knock him to the ground.

"Lord Hokage!" the ANBU outside the barrier looked on with worry.

Zelda tried to get up, but the pain from hitting her head on the trunk was too much.

"That was foolish, trying to fight the three of us without your shadow clone jutsu," Orochimaru commented. He walked over to Sarutobi, leaning down, and grabbing him by the collar. "Alright sensei, don't tell me your through already. You, the great sage who has mastered all the jutsu in the Leaf Village: the legendary professor and warrior…oh…I'm soo disappointed," he said and began to laugh.

"Lord Hokage, please get up! The Leaf Village will be nothing without you!" One of the ANBU cried.

Enma's eye was seen on the staff, as he held a silent conversation with his master. As the pain ebbed away from Zelda's head, she started to form Din's Fire in her hand, but because she was weakened, it formed slowly. What she didn't see, was a small cluster of orange, black, and white diamonds watching her from one of the tree branches.

Tears started to form in Sarutobi's eyes. But then, his face got angry.

"OROCHIMARU! YOU'RE A FOOL!" And with that, he grabbed Orochimaru's arms and quickly knocked him off his feet. As he did, Enma's hand shot out form the staff and grabbed Orochimaru around the throat.

"It's over," the monkey king said, "I'm going to snap you like a twig! It should've been done years ago!" He started to squeeze the life out of the snake-man, only for him to use a substitution jutsu, and reappear out of his grip.

Sarutobi quickly attacked his ex-student, knocking him down. Then, he exploded the two bomb tags that he placed on the First and Third. Although they seemed lying motionless, they soon tried to get up. Their souls are bound to the earth by Orochimaru's will. Sarutobi made a decision right then and there.

He would use the Fourth's Jutsu.

"What's wrong sensei? You look a little out of breath," Orochimaru taunted as he walked back over to the Grass Lord's sword, "Long day? You poor thing, all you really wanted was to take a long nap, isn't it?" He started to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Sarutobi demanded.

Orochimaru reached up to his face, pulling it off. Sarutobi's eyes widened.

The ball of Fire in Zelda's hand immedietly disappeared as she gasped in surprise.

Behind Orochimaru's face, was a face of a young girl.

"What is this? Who the devil are you?" Sarutobi shouted.

"You have lost it old man. Don't you recognize me?" Orochimaru's voice was high and feminine, but the sliminess was still there, "It's me, Orochimaru."

Zelda's eyes widened. 'No, that's impossible!' she thought.

"It can't be," Sarutobi whispered, "Then that means you've mastered that forbidden jutsu? "

Orochimaru smiled. "It's been ten years of hard work since I've left the village."

"You're no longer human…you're a demon!"

But the snake man just laughed. Sarutobi was at a loss. He couldn't defeat the First and Second, because whatever damage he could do would just be regenerated. And his old age seemed to have caught up with him, when faced off against his former student. Sarutobi felt his hard grow heavy, he was still having trouble seeing just how evil his former-student was, and it hurt his heart. He looked over at Zelda; she couldn't possibly last any longer. His eyes narrowed. He then decided right then and there. He would do the Dead Demon Consuming seal to seal both the First and Second, and then Orochimaru.

Then, Sarutobi appeared in front of Orochimaru, holding him by the shoulders. The hand of the Death God came out of Sarutobi and reached into Orochimaru, taking out something blue. Orochimaru quickly beckoned his sword to stab his former sensei. The sword came to life, levitating in the air. Enma tried his best to go after the sword, to stop it, but Orochimaru's snakes kept him down.

Zelda saw it too, and made a move to stop the sword, but she found that she couldn't move! She looked down at her feet and saw weird orange and black diamonds coming from her feet. She tried to move again, but her feet stuck to the roof tiles.

'What?' she thought.

_Mistress, I sense the presence of an enemy…_

_Do __**not**__let those diamonds touch the Goddess Sword. _

_Also, do not touch The Hokage, he is summoning a death god…_

_Should you touch him, you will vanish as well._

'What can I do then?' Zelda thought.

Fi had no reply.

Zelda could only watch in horror as the sword pierced Sarutobi through the chest. Enma could only prevent it from completely going through him. Orochimaru was also surprised.

"Old man, why didn't you dodge it?" he rasped out.

Sarutobi grinned. "There was no need. The one who casts the Reaper Death Seal, in order to send his enemy's soul to oblivion, must sacrifice his own life if it were really work. It's a jutsu with a heavy price." Orochimaru tried to lift his arms, but found he couldn't perform a jutsu. "There was no need to dodge the blade," Sarutobi continued, "My fate is sealed. Another moment or two, and your soul will be sealed!"

But Sarutobi knew that his body was too weak to hold on much longer. Zelda tried desperately to move her feet, but they wouldn't budge. She watched as Orochimaru tried to get his sword to move, but it wouldn't either, not with Enma hanging onto it.

"Why doesn't it move?" Orochimaru hissed, "Why are you so hard to kill you old buzzard!"

"Have you forgotten already, Orochimaru?" Sarutobi began, "I've told you before, the Village Hidden in the Leaves is my home! And I am that central pillar of that home!"

"A pillar?" Orochimaru echoed, "You're nothing but a rotten old stick that's about to fall!"

"As long as there is one villager, who will fight for his friends. Lay down his life for his friends, this pillar will stand! The village will survive!"

"_We shall see_."

"Heh, don't underestimate the Hokage!"

Orochimaru watched as the death god resumed pulling at Orochimaru's soul.

"But that's impossible," the snake sanin retorted, "It must have used up all your chakra."

The Hokage smirked. "That is _not_ how you measure strength. True strength comes from more than chakra! I won't let this village…be swallowed up…by your ambition!"

Enma was now struggling to hold the sword. Zelda looked at the Goddess sword.

"Fi! There must be something you can do!" she cried.

…_I'm sorry Mistress…_

"This isn't over! There is no stopping my ambition!" Orochimaru hissed.

"Yours is an obsession, this need to drown yourself in jutsu. And for this transgression, you shall be punished!" Sarutobi stated, "I shall take away all the jutsu that you hold dear!"

"What did you say?"

The Death God pulled a little harder, creating distance between Sarutobi and Orochimaru. It raised its knife.

"No! You wouldn't dare!" Orochimaru cried.

And the Death God sliced Orochimaru's soul.

"The Seal is set!" Sarutobi yelled as he grunted in pain.

Orochimaru's arms started to rot, rendering them useless. "My…my arms!" he cried.

"There you have it," Sarutobi said, "Your arms are useless to you now. Without those arms you will never form another hand sign! Ninjutsu is forever out of your reach!"

Orochimaru's arms dangled from his body.

"Your loathsome dream of crushing this village will die here!"

Orochimaru's eyes were wide in anger and disbelief. "YOU FEEBLE OLD MAN! GIVE ME BACK MY ARMS!"

But Sarutobi could only form a slight smile. "Your foolishness is unparalleled, Orochimaru. My one regret is that I couldn't take you with me. Farewell disciple, may we meet again in the next world." The Death god began absorbing all the chakra and souls.

"You decrepit old man! How dare you! How dare you take my jutsu from me!" Orochimaru shouted to Sarutobi like a spoilt child with his parent.

But whatever Orochimaru had left to say couldn't be heard by Sarutobi, as his eyes started to close. A smile formed on his face. Enma crept closer to his fallen master, and took the sword out of him.

"NO!" Zelda cried. Her feet suddenly came free and she ran to the fallen old man.

"Lord Orochimaru!" the guy with the pale lavender hair cried.

"Our mission has failed," Orochimaru said, "Release the barrier, take me back!"

"Right. Release!"

And the barrier disappeared. The four Sound Nin quickly gathered up Orochimaru and headed out, the three ANBU hot on their trail.

Zelda lifted Sarutobi in her arms. "Why," she sobbed, "Why would you attempt such a thing?" Tears were streaming down her face. "You're the only person…"

Sarutobi slowly opened his eyes. "I knew one day…that I would…have to kill…my own student," he rasped out, "That day…when I told you I…had other work to do…I was forming…my will."

Zelda's eyes widened. "You…you foresaw your own death!" she realized.

"I knew I was going to die…so…I had to try…" Sarutobi continued, "My will…will explain…everything about you…to the next Hokage." He felt his life force draining. He smiled at her. "I'm glad…that you're alright…and I…hope that…you will find…a…way…back…home." His eyes started to close. "…Good…luck…my dear…Zelda."

She let the dam flow and held the old man close to her, sobbing all the way. It wasn't until she felt the presence of Fi that she looked up to see the blue figure standing before you.

_Mistress, I sense something odd about the air…_

_I feel as if there…is an illusion surrounding us!_

Zelda's eyes widened at the sense of urgency. She gently let Sarutobi down. She looked at Enma, who was looking at her with interest.

"I must thank you for your help," the monkey king said to her.

Zelda gave a sad smile. "What help? I couldn't help him in his time of need. I let him down."

The old monkey shook his head. "You showed him, that even the people without chakra can protect the village. That action in itself, was enough to keep him going," he said. "Sarutobi has told me about you, and I wish you luck on your journey back home." And he poofed away, never to be summoned again.

Zelda looked at the smiling old man one last time, before using Farore's Wind to transport herself away.

88888888

Naruto and Sakura were waiting for Sasuke. The sky was dark and grey, and they were all dressed in black. Each person held a sorrowful face.

It was the day of the funeral for the Third Hokage.

Naruto and Sakura were successful in stopping Gaara and the Sand Siblings. Gaara and Naruto had come to a mutual understanding of each other. Jiraiya had come to deal with the snake summons that although Zelda had managed to mortally wound, she did not kill them.

Zelda was already gathered with the other people. She felt a raindrop. And then another. And suddenly it started to pour.

"It's raining," Kurenai said.

"Even the Heavens weep," Asuma replied.

The two Village Elders were up in front. "We are gathered here to not only remember the Third Hokage, but all those who sacrificed themselves in this battle. So that our village could survive," the man began.

And then each person began putting white flowers on the coffin. Zelda and Naruto watched as Konohamaru began to cry. Iruka knelt down next to the young boy, and hugged him. The rain slowed down soon after. Naruto looked at the picture of the Third Hokage that was on the coffin, and then up at the sky.

"Iruka-sensei…why do they do it," Naruto asked, "Why do people risk their lives for other people?"

Iruka looked at him for a moment. "Well," he began, "When someone passes away, it's the end. His past and future, all the dreams he once had. They disappear along with him. This is true, even if he dies honorably in battle as so many have, as Hayate did. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed. All but one…the most important one of all; people, parents, siblings, friends, lovers, the people who are important to him. And these people, the ones left behind, are joined together in one great circle, by their shared memories of him. A circle of friendship, trust, and sacrifice, that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It's hard to explain it, but we remain in the circle together. We have no choice. It's important to us."

Naruto looked away. "Huh, I get it. So we do it because we have to…sort of."

Zelda looked at the portrait with sadness. Remembering what Fi said, she called upon the harp, which appeared in her hands. Positioning it in her arm, she began to play the Ballad of the Goddess.

The song filled the air as she plucked the strings. Everyone looked at her, the song bringing a comforting sense. She started to sing.

_Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land._

_Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower...and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear._

Her voice blended with the harp's beautiful sound. Some people closed their eyes, allowing the melody to fill them.

"What is that song?" Naruto asked softly as his teammates looked at Zelda. All the jounin looked at her with interest as well. Everyone present was confused at how soothing the song was to them, even though they had no idea what the song was about. When Zelda stopped, the rain stopped and light could be seen as the clouds started to separate. Sakura looked up.

"Hey, it stopped raining," she commented. The sun had fully made its appearance, shining bright on the portrait.

As everyone started leaving, Iruka had a smile on his face. Naruto was running back to Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi. Suddenly, an ANBU member appeared in front of Zelda as she was about to leave.

"Miss, Zelda? The Village Elders request that they speak to you," he said.

Zelda gave a confused look, but followed the man nonetheless. Naruto stopped running when he felt that Zelda was not following him. He turned around just to see her walk away with the ANBU.

"What? What's going on?" he asked.

"Why is Zelda with an ANBU member. Is she in trouble Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi's eye was narrowed. He didn't like where this was going, and judging by the confused look on Zelda's face, she had no idea what was going on either. Another ANBU appeared, this time in front of Kakashi.

"You are needed to a village meeting," it was a woman's voice.

"Does this have something to do with Zelda?" Naruto asked in a hurried voice.

Kakashi blinked. "Naruto, why don't you hang out with Sasuke and Sakura for a bit until I get back." And he left with the ANBU.

"What do you think the meeting will be about?" Sakura asked.

"I'm guessing Zelda is about to be interrogated," Sasuke commented, "Just look around you. Ino and Shikamaru's dads are gone, as well as some of the Tokubetsu jounin."

Naruto and Sakura looked around to find that Sasuke was right.

"Whatever it's about, I just hope she's okay," Naruto commented as his pink-haired teammate nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, they overheard a bystander speaking to his friend.

"I heard that she killed Lord Hokage," he said.

"What? No way! Who told you that?"

"Some of the ANBU who were watching the fight. Yeah, apparently she threw her sword, and it hit Lord Hokage."

The trio looked at each other in surprise. Zelda, killing the Hokage? No way!

88888888

Zelda walked into a room. There were the two Village Elders, Kakashi, Inoichi, Shikaku, Ibiki, Aoba, Genma, and a couple of ANBU. The Goddess Sword lay on the table in front of her.

"Zelda, you are brought to the Village Council under suspicion that you killed the Third Hokage," The village elder man spoke up.

Zelda's eyes widened, as well as everyone present. WHAT?

"We have confirmation from the ANBU who were present at the battle. You raised your sword, and hurled it at the Hokage," the man continued.

"But why? Why would I do that? What personal gain could I have gotten from it?" Zelda interrupted.

"We were hoping you could tell us. The ANBU…had quite some time trying to retrieve your sword for examination."

Zelda was furious. How could they think that she killed the Hokage?

"The sword…can only be touched by those with the purest hearts," Zelda explained slowly, "And it's only purpose, it to vanquish evil. If I were to throw my sword at anyone, it would have been Orochimaru." Her eyes narrowed. "But I couldn't move when Lord Hokage summoned the Death God. Something kept my feet in place, and I couldn't move."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"That's impossible, our ANBU don't lie," Ibiki commented.

"I can prove to you that I didn't do it. Fi, you'll have to show yourself," Zelda called out.

The Goddess Sword glowed, and Fi came out with a burst of light. Everyone in the room gave a gasp in surprise.

"Who are you?" Ibiki growled.

_My designation is Fi. My purpose is to help guide my Mistress here back to her homeland. Do not worry, I am not here to harm anyone._

Everyone just blinked at the strange figure.

"So…Fi, can you prove that Miss Zelda here did not kill The Third?" the man coughed out.

_My Mistress did nothing of the sort. Everything she told you was true. She could not move from her spot. There were orange and black diamonds securing her feet, making it impossible for her to move. _

Fi paused.

_However, I do remember sensing something about the air when the snake man known as "Orochimaru" ran off. It was if there was an illusion surrounding my mistress._

_According to what I have gathered from here, the illusion you must have seen was Zelda killing the Hokage._

"That's not true," one of the ANBU shouted, "I know what I saw. And I saw _her_ kill the Hokage."

_I am incapable of giving nothing but the truth. The Hokage even has a will, explaining his foresight of his death to Orochimaru_.

"The Hokage would never!"

The jounin present looked at each other. Who were they suppose to believe? Even Kakashi looked like he had his doubts. Zelda's eyes filled with disbelief. The Village elders exchanged glances.

"Miss Zelda, that is not enough sufficient evidence. We have no idea who…or, _what_, Fi is, therefore we cannot accept it as hard core evidence," the woman said, "So what was your motivation? Were you working for Orochimaru?"

"Never!" Zelda shouted, "Why would I kill the man who accepted me when I first came here?" She couldn't believe it.

"It is our duty to ensure the safety of our village. And we regret to say that you are a threat to the existence of the Leaf Village," the man replied, "Although we believe you had no motive, we still need to take action."

Zelda looked to the jounin for help: Shikaku, Genma, Kakashi. But all of them held the smallest doubt in their eyes that made her want to cry and scream with frustration.

As the Village Elders talked quietly amongst themselves, they came to a decision.

"Zelda, we've decided that your punishment is to be exiled from the Leaf Village. Should you return, you will be killed on sight."

Zelda's eyes widened.

**A/N:** Oh no! What will happen to Zelda? Will she be able to prove her innocent? Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter to find out. And I would be happy with being put on your favorite story/alert story listing. Or you could REALLY make my day and review ^_^. I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I tried my best to edit it, but I can't be 100% sure.


	9. Zelda's Innocence, and the Akatsuki

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or Zelda, just the plot and idea for the crossover :)

Chapter 9

"…your punishment is to be exiled from the Leaf Village. Should you return, you will be killed on sight."

Zelda's eyes widened.

The jounin present looked at each other in surprise.

"Don't you think that was a bit hasty?" Kakashi asked while narrowing his eye. Shikaku slowly nodded his head in agreement.

"Do you think I would be lying in a situation like this?" The ANBU countered.

"What reason would I have to kill the Third?" Zelda raised her voice, "He was like a grandfather to me. He looked after me, made sure I had a bed, clothes, everything! He even had me stay with Naruto, the one _you all _consider a monster and shunned him because of something_he had no control over_!"

Everyone went silent.

"How do you know about the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon?" the elder man asked.

"The Third explained it to me the day after I came to Konoha. I had asked him why everyone in the village hated Naruto."

The elder man narrowed his eyes. "Everyone in the village is forbidden to talk about it."

"Considering the fact that it was the Third Hokage who had told me, I hardly see the problem," Zelda responded, "Do you even know what Naruto had to go through all these years? All his pain and suffering?"

"We did it for the sake of our village. That demon brought nothing but destruction and despair…but we do not expect a twelve year-old girl to understand such complicated matters," the elder man said.

Suddenly, Fi zoomed right up to the elder man's face, startling him. The jounin and ANBU tensed.

_If you turn us away, followers of a great evil will capture her and use her to resurrect their master. If she is captured not only is her world endangered, but yours as well._

Everyone's eyes widened.

"A great…evil?" Kakashi repeated.

"What kind of evil are we talking about?" Genma asked.

Zelda looked at Fi in surprise. Ghirahim had mentioned that she was the key in helping his master return. But he wasn't evil. Was he? And what were the chances that the master Fi and Ghirahim were talking about were the same person?

_A great evil that once threatened the existence of Skyloft and the Surface. Its goal is to create a world full of shadows, darkness, and despair. _

Commotion rose up in the room.

"All the more reason to get you out of here," the elder woman said, "You pose as a threat to our village, and those who are allied with the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Zelda opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Genma.

"Zelda, it would be wise accept the punishment. Normally those who pose such a threat to our village are executed on the spot," he said. The tone in his voice was warning. He knew that if Zelda continued to frustrate the elders, they would not hesitate to change her sentence to death.

"Then allow me one last question," Zelda said. She turned to the ANBU who had given the accusation. "If I am the person who killed the Hokage, why did I help in in the first place? Why would I risk the life of not only myself, but my Loftwing as well? You and I both knew that the barrier Orochimaru put up burned anyone who touched it. Why would I go so far to get in there…just to kill the Third?"

The ANBU member was speechless. He _did _see her coming down to help the Hokage. And he _did _see her trying to stop Orochimaru. But he definitely did not see her being frozen of some sort. He could only stutter as he tried to answer her.

"Maybe it was just a ploy. A way to make us think you were helping the Third, when in fact you wanted to wait for the perfect moment where he was vulnerable," Ibiki said in a hard voice.

That had everyone in the room thinking, filling their minds with doubt. Any traces of trust that the jounins had in her, had vanished. Even Kakashi had a look of doubt, and because he wasn't at the scene, he didn't know what to think.

Seeing the doubt in his eye crushed Zelda to the core, but she understood the situation he was placed in. Fi disappeared into the sword, and Zelda picked it up. Just as she was about to walk out the door, she was stopped by a voice.

"Hold it! Stop! Stop everything!" A jounin with sunglasses rushed in with a scroll.

"What is it Ebisu?" Ibiki asked.

"Zelda is telling the truth! It's all here, in the Third's will!"

The Tokubetsu Jounin handed the scroll to the Village Elders read the scroll. Their eyes widened as they read. "Miss Zelda, we must apologize," the man said. Everyone had a guilty expression on his or her face.

"But you must understand why we had our suspicions" the woman added.

Zelda nodded meekly. "Oh, I understand. And as much as you're apology is accepted," she said in a soft voice, "It doesn't erase the fact that you had just branded me as the Hokage's murderer." Tension filled the air. "No longer will I be looked at the same…people will look at me differently…" she trailed off, and left the room.

Kakashi just watched Zelda out of his lone eye; shame and guilt filled his body.

88888888

When she walked out, the faces of Team 7 greeted her.

"Zelda, tell me it isn't true!" Naruto cried, "You didn't kill old man Hokage, I know you didn't!"

She gave a tired smile. "It's alright Naruto. We just had a small misunderstanding, that's all," she replied softly.

He sighed in relief. "Well that's good."

"We heard some of the civilians talking about what had happened. We just wanted to make sure that you were okay," Sakura added.

Zelda smiled. "So…what are you going to do now? The Chunin exams are over."

"The village will have to start looking for a new Hokage," Sakura said, "So it might be a bit boring around here. I know that I'm going to train to get stronger, so I can pass the next Chunin exams."

"Yeah, you got that right! Pervy-sage said that he's going to look for one of his teammates _he _thinks would be perfect for Hokage. Hmph, I guess I'll have to see for myself whether or not his teammate of his is worthy of the title of Hokage," Naruto rambled.

Zelda tilted her head. "What do you mean 'you're going to see for yourself'?"

Naruto grinned. "Pervy-sage is taking me with him, says he's gonna give me some extra training. Cool, huh?"

Zelda forced a smile on her face. "So...you're going away? When are you leaving?"

Naruto put a finger to his chin, "Tomorrow afternoon is when we leave. But I'll be back soon. Believe it!"

Zelda turned to the Uchiha heir. "What about you, Sasuke? What will you do now?"

Sasuke gave her a cool look. "I'll be training. I need to be stronger in order to defeat my brother."

'Oh great, another one for revenge,' Zelda thought. The Third had told her about the horrific past of the Uchiha clan, and she couldn't help but pity the last member of the clan. Of course, that doesn't mean she supported his notion of revenge.

But she only smiled. "Well, I wish you happiness." She turned to back to Naruto. "Since you're leaving tomorrow morning, how about we hang out, just the two of us? I'll treat you to ramen," she offered.

That got the blonde excited. "Free ramen? You bet!" He turned to Sakura with a sly smile. "Of course, you'realso invited Sakura if you—"

"No thanks."

"Eheheh…"

Zelda chuckled, shaking her head.

88888888

_Later on that night…_

Zelda and Naruto were sitting at Ichiraku, with Naruto happily slurping up his third bowl of ramen. Zelda was slowly eating her own half eaten bowl, deep in thought. The Goddess Sword was by her legs, propped up against the stand.

"So, are you allowed to tell me what happened during the meeting?" Naruto asked her through a mouthful of noodles.

Zelda snapped out of her stupor, giving the blonde a quick smile. "Well…some of the ANBU thought I had killed the Hokage."

Naruto froze, the chopsticks halfway to his mouth. "The ANBU?"

Zelda nodded. "They told Ibiki, who then notified the Village Elders. Apparently the ANBU saw me throw my sword at the Hokage, impaling him." Her eyes narrowed. "Before Orochimaru stabbed the Third, my feet were frozen. I couldn't move. And then…I felt something." She looked at Naruto. "Something was different about the air. I think what the those ANBU members saw, was an illusion of me killing the Hokage."

"An illusion?" Naruto had forgotten about his bowl of ramen.

"Yes. I don't know if Orochimaru had cast a genjutsu or something. But…if it _was _a genjutsu…don't you think a person of an ANBU rank would be able to see through it?" Zelda asked.

"Well…unless it _wasn't _genjutsu. I mean let's face it, that snake guy is weird," he pointed his chopsticks as Zelda, "Not to mention he had his little snake friend eat me." He paused for a bit, and his eyes got serious. "You know what Zelda? "

She gave him her full attention.

"If there are two things I'm grateful for in my life, they're old man Hokage, and you."

Zelda's eyes widened.

"You see, that old man…he was the only one who really knew me…the only person… who tolerated all of my pranks and goof offs. And if it wasn't for him, I would have never met you." He stared into his bowl.

"That day, when Iruka-sensei first introduced me to you, was the happiest day of my life. "

Zelda reached over and put a hand on Naruto's arm. He tilted his head down so that you couldn't see his face.

"Naruto."

He placed his hand over hers. "Sure, I had Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chouji. But the only reason I fit in with them, was because they were all goof-offs as well," he continued, "But you…you were the first person to truly accept me."

"That's not true, Naruto. You had Iruka," Zelda pointed out.

Naruto chuckled, "Yeah well, even Iruka-sensei didn't like me that much in the beginning. Iruka-sensei was distant from me, just like everyone else. I was surprised when one day, he offered to treat me to some ramen. Since then, he's been helping me along the way."

He wrapped his fingers delicately over her hand. "When I said that you were the first person to truly accept me…I mean that you were the first person who didn't hesitate. You welcomed me with open arms."

Zelda just looked at Naruto with understanding eyes as she listened to him.

"Before you came, Zelda, I was drowning. Drowning in a sea of loneliness. I just...I just didn't understand why I was hated so much. Why no one wanted to play with me." He sniffed. "And then after meeting Gaara…he's the exact same thing as me. We were both shunned by the villagers…both labeled as a demon, a monster."

Zelda maneuvered Naruto so that his body was facing her. His head was still down.

"I've noticed here…that people can't get themselves out of the past," Zelda began while Naruto looked up at her, "Just because something bad happens in the past, you shouldn't let it dictate who you are. Take Sasuke for instance. Sure, it's horrible what happened to his clan, but he shouldn't let it control who he is. And at some point, he needs to stop and think if it's really worth killing his brother. Killing people doesn't bring loved ones back, it only brings more bloodshed."

Naruto's eyes widened as he listened to her. Zelda looked into his eyes with a smile.

"It seems to me, that you're the person who can take that first step. You do what others don't, which is to move on and look for a better future," she clasped Naruto's hand in hers, "You know, you're the only person who even believed that Skyloft and Loftwings existed. No one else did, not even Kakashi. I'm glad the Third Hokage had me stay with you. I can't imagine staying with anyone else." She closed her eyes and laughed, "I guess what I'm saying is that I'm grateful for you as well, Naruto."

She gasped as she was pulled into a tight embrace. He was hugging her. Giving a gentle smile, she wrapped her arms around Naruto.

"Thanks, Zelda."

She felt dampness on her shoulder, and realized that he was crying. She tightened her hold on him.

"I'll always be there for you, Naruto," she whispered to him.

Naruto managed to regain himself and pulled out of the embrace.

"That's right. And I'll always be here for you. Just you wait Zelda. As soon as I become Hokage, I'm gonna make a better future for us, and for Konoha. Believe it," he told her.

88888888

The next morning, Zelda woke up to see Naruto already gone, but his side of the room was still messy.

After getting dressed, she took up the Goddess Sword and left the room locking the door behind her. She walked towards the railing, scanning her surroundings. "Huh, I wonder where he is?" she said, "Maybe he's saying good-bye to the others. Oh well, I've already had my good-bye with him last night."

Suddenly, she felt a bad feeling go through her.

She looked up at the sky and saw her Loftwing gliding in the breeze. Quickly heading back into the room, she grabbed a large piece of cloth from her closet and ran back outside. Tying the cloth around her shoulders like a shawl, she climbed on top of the railing and jumped off.

_FWEEEEEEE!_

Her purplish-blue Loftwing quickly caught her before heading back up in the sky. It was a beautiful day, and the sun was shining bright. Zelda closed her eyes as she felt the breeze. She felt herself grow sad, as it reminded her of the time when she rode with Link.

Hearing the sounds from below, she looked down and saw people fixing buildings. As she neared the Ninja Academy, she saw a mop of spiky blonde hair talking to a younger boy.

'Yep, no doubt that's Naruto. Is that Konohamaru?' she thought to herself and steered her bird lower. When she was low enough, she cupped a hand to her mouth.

"HEY! NARUTO!"

The blonde-haired shinobi looked up to see Zelda and her Loftwing coming towards them. He ran to meet them, Konohamaru in tow. When they met up, Zelda's Loftwing flapped its wings continuously, sustaining itself and its rider in the air.

"Saying your last good-byes, huh?" Zelda asked.

Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah, I wanted to do some last minute things before leaving." He looked down at Konohamaru. "For instance, I wanted to make sure this little squirt was going to keep up with his training."

"Hey!"

Naruto grinned. "And I wanted to have some last minute ramen."

Zelda smiled before giving him a puzzled look. "Um…Naruto?" she began, "Unless you plan on travelling light, shouldn't you be packing right now?"

"Naruto, a light packer? Yeah right," a masculine voice was heard. Zelda turned her head to see an older, yet handsome, man with white hair appear. He had a vertical red streak that went from his lower eyelid and down his cheek.

"Pervy-sage!"

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "Why _aren't _you packed Naruto? Just so you know this little training trip isn't going to be like last time," he explained to the boy, "I'm going to be teaching you a jutsu that makes Chidori look like kid's stuff." Naruto's eyes widened as Jiraiya sighed. "Although, if you're not packed because you're not interested in going with me I could always ask Sasuke."

A cloud of dust appeared where Naruto had been standing. "I'll go pack my stuff! Stay right there Pervy-sage don't move! I'll be right back!" Naruto called out behind him.

"Wait for me, boss!" Konohamaru shouted as he ran after the blonde-haired boy.

The Toad-sanin just looked after Naruto with a blank look. He sighed, "What a knucklehead. But still, you can't help liking him." His thoughts were interrupted by Zelda's laughter. He walked closer to the gigantic bird. Her laughter stopped as she realized the older man was looking at her.

"Hello," she greeted shyly.

"Well, well, so _this _is who Naruto was talking about. Hmm…he seemed to have neglected to tell me just how beautiful you are. You must be Zelda," he said with a grin.

Zelda responded with her own grin, "And you must be the perverted sensei who helped train Naruto for the Chunin Exam Finals."

A stress mark appeared on the sanin's forehead. "Perverted? Not I. I am the Legendary Toad-Sanin, Jiraiya. And I am merely doing research for my next book."

"Oh, you're a writer?"

Jiraiya puffed out his chest. "That I am. You might have seen my books before, it's the Icha Icha Paradise series."

Zelda's thoughts raced back to Kakashi. "Oh," she said, "You mean those perverted books that Kakashi reads?"

"I am NOT a pervert!" Jiraiya shouted, "Why does this always happen to me!" He growled. "Darn you, Naruto! Always ruining my chances with the ladies." He stopped in mid rant as he took a closer look at the bird Zelda was sitting on. "Hmm…that's quite a bird you got there. Naruto didn't tell me you were a shinobi."

Zelda shook her head, "I'm not. This is my Loftwing, a guardian bird. And I'm not from the Hidden Leaf Village. I'm not from this world actually."

Jiraiya put a finger to his chin. "Hmm…yeah that's right. That squirt _did _mention how you were from a different place and all, I just never believed him." He took another look at Zelda's face. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be looking for a job would you?"

"For your research project? No thanks."

Jiraiya laughed, "Can't say I didn't try."

Zelda's face got serious. "Jiraiya, you'll look after Naruto right? I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to him."

He gave her a serious look. "Of course. I'm not taking him under my wing just for kicks you know." He looked up at the sky. "There are people looking for him, and I want to make sure he's strong enough to fight them on his own."

"People…looking for him?" Zelda had a worried look on her face.

Jiraiya sheepishly laughed and scratched the back of his neck. He'd said too much. "But don't worry. As long as I'm with him, he'll be safe from harm," he assured her.

But Zelda wasn't convinced. Bidding good-bye to the perverted sanin, she and her Loftwing flew up and away.

It wasn't long before she spotted Kakashi at a dango restaurant. She put a gentle hand on her Loftwing's neck.

"My friend, stay close to me, okay?" she told the bird before untying the piece of cloth that was wrapped around her shoulders. She tugged on the saddle, causing the Loftwing to slow down and sustain itself in mid-air. With the Goddess Sword on her back, and the cloth in her hands, she jumped off.

While falling, she spread herself wide to slow herself down. When she was getting close to the ground, she threw the piece of cloth above her like a parachute.

88888888

Kakashi knew he looked like he was casually reading his book, but on the inside, he was silently keeping tabs on the two figures that were currently in the dango restaurant. He felt the presence of two other people approaching him.

It was Kurenai and Asuma.

Snapping his book closed he greeted the two jounin. "Hey guys." He noticed how close the two were. "You two seem to be getting along," he commented.

Kurenai blushed and looked away. "Idiot," she muttered, "Anko wanted me to pick up some rice dumplings for her."

"What are you doing here, aside from catching up on your reading?" Asuma asked, unfazed by the copy-nin's comment.

"Oh, I need to buy something to put on a grave," Kakashi explained. He lone eye looked to the side, silently telling the two other jounin to look as well. "Plus I'm meeting someone here," he added.

The two jounin followed suite to see two figures wearing dark navy-blue cloaks with bright red clouds on them. They wore straw hats to cover their heads and faces.

"I'm just waiting on Sasuke," Kakashi calmly stated.

The trio heard the sound of metal scrapping against metal. One of the figures was wearing a ring, and had moved his finger against the metal cup he was holding. Kurenai and Asuma got the picture.

"Huh, it's not like you to be waiting on someone," Asuma said with a slight laugh, "is it for, Obito?"

"Obito?" Kurenai echoed.

"Uh, yeah. Kind of," the silver-haired ninja replied.

The three jounin knew that the two figures in the restaurant were listening intently on their conversation. The trio suddenly felt a presence above them, and looked up. Zelda was floating down to them, holding the corners of a large piece a cloth she was using as a parachute. She landed gracefully on the ground.

"Hello, Kakashi," she greeted, "Kurenai. Asuma."

"That was quite an entrance Zelda," Kakashi remarked with a light heart. Any dark or serious aura that was around them had suddenly vanished.

"Did you like it?" Zelda asked as she was tying the piece of cloth around her shoulders, "It's a sailcloth. My people use them so that we can jump off our Loftwings from high heights and not be scared of getting hurt."

"Interesting," Kurenai commented while looking at the cloth.

Zelda's face got serious. "Kakashi, I've been getting this bad feeling," she started.

"Bad dreams again?" the Copy-nin suggested.

Zelda shook her head. "I just feel like…like something bad is going to happen today. I also met Jiraiya earlier…" she stopped as she noticed the two figures in the restaurant. She looked at Kurenai and Asuma, who had their eyes glued to the figures, and at Kakashi who shook his head slightly.

"Anyway, I just wanted to show you my sailcloth. I guess I'll see you later then," Zelda said before walking away, a certain lazy genius on her mind.

Soon after she left, Sasuke appeared. "Kakashi, it's like you to show up early. What gives?" he asked.

"Well…sometimes I do," Kakashi replied.

Sasuke blinked, before looking over to where Kakashi was looking to find no one at the table. He gave his sensei a dry look. "Let's eat somewhere else," he said, "I don't have much of a sweet tooth."

"Hmm, is that so?" Kakashi mused. He gave a knowing look to Kurenai and Asuma, who nodded before taking off. Sasuke, who was surprised at the sudden take off, just gave Kakashi a puzzled look.

88888888

Zelda wandered throughout the village, wondering where she could find Shikamaru. "This is ridiculous," she said to herself, "if I was Shikamaru, where would I be?" She kept checking the sky to make sure her Loftwing was following her, which she was.

Zelda made her way to the training grounds where, lo and behold, the lazy genius was on the ground napping. She walked up to him and knelt down.

"Shikamaru," she gently shook him by the shoulders, "Shikamaru, wake up."

The lazy genius stirred and groggily opened his eyes. "Whadd'ya want, Zelda?" he said with squinted eyes.

"I need to ask you about something," she said.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru yawned and rubbed his eyes before sitting up. He turned his body to her, so that she had his full attention. "What about?" he asked.

"Has your father ever mentioned about people wanting to capture Naruto?" she asked.

Shikamaru looked at her with wide eyes. "People want to kidnap Naruto? What for?" he asked.

Zelda sat down next to him. "I don't know. I was hoping you knew," she admitted, "Strange though. I saw Kakashi earlier with Asuma and Kurenai at a dango shop. They were all looking at these two figures dressed in long, dark-navy blue cloaks with red clouds on them. I couldn't see their faces, they were wearing straw hats with white streams hanging off the edges."

Shikamaru lazily looked up at the sky, thinking. He watched as Zelda's Loftwing fly in a figure eight. "Well," he finally spoke, "My dad doesn't talk to me much about things involving Konoha's Intelligence Squad. It's confidential material."

Zelda looked at him.

"But," he continued, "I did overhear my dad talking to this weird white-haired old man known as Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sanin, about an organization known as the Akatsuki."

"The Akatsuki?"

The genius nodded, "Yeah. It's a really powerful organization, according to Jiraiya. Apparently he's been doing some research on them, watching their every move, and trying to figure out their motive. What a drag…if I had to do something like that…that's just too much work."

Zelda had a serious look on her face. "So what _is _their motive?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Beats me," he said, "I think it has to deal with demons…or something like that. I'm not really sure." He yawned, and was startled to find Zelda was walking away. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to go find Jiraiya," she said to him.

"He's already left the village with Naruto. I ran into them right before they left," Shikamaru told her. He looked after her with tired eyes, and watched her call her bird. He yawned again as she mounted her bird and flew off. He went back down on the grass, looking up at the clouds.

"Women are so troublesome…"

88888888

Zelda's Loftwing was like a purplish-blue streak in the sky. Her long golden hair was blowing behind her. She looked frantically below her, trying in vain to look for that spiky mop of blonde hair. The Goddess Sword glowed as Fi began to speak.

_Your Grace, if I may. I have an ability known as dowsing, which will allow you to find your desired object. To use my dowsing ability, I must have the scent of said object. _

Zelda untied the sailcloth from around her shoulders with one hand. "Will this do?" she asked Fi. Fi came out of the sword, taking a close look at the piece of cloth.

_The scent of Naruto is faint. But it is enough for me to remember it._

_Now, unsheathe the Goddess Sword and it shall point to where your desire object is._

Fi returned back into the sword, and Zelda drew it out. She felt a faint pull coming from the sword, as it slowly raised itself and pointed into a direction.

_It seems that your friend, Naruto, has just past the outskirts of the village._

_He is currently resting at a shrine._

"Perfect," Zelda said. She looked down below her for a brief moment, and did a double take. There was a battle going on the river. She put the sword back and steered her Loftwing lower. Her eyes widened.

It was Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai with the two figures from before!

Asuma and Kurenai looked like they were frozen, their eyes were closed. Kakashi was crouched low, breathing heavily as if he was in pain.

'Naruto's going to have to wait a bit,' she thought before signaled her Loftwing to dive.

As they got closer, Zelda got a closer look at the two figures. One of them had a blue-grayish skin color with gill-like scars on his face. His eyes were crazy and monster-like. The other man was tall, had cobalt hair, and red Sharingan eyes—wait a minute.

'A Sharingan user?' Zelda thought, 'Could this…be Sasuke's older brother…Itachi?'

"Kisame," she heard the normal looking man say, "We'll take Kakashi with us. But we don't need the others. Get rid of them."

She formed Din's fire in her hand and quickly threw it as the fishy looking guy, Kisame, who went to attack the trio.

Sensing the attack, Kisame dodged the oncoming fireball.

"What the—"

When her Loftwing was close enough, Zelda quickly jumped off landed on the ground behind the two figures.

"Itachi Uchiha," she breathed as said-man looked over his shoulder at her.

"No…Zelda," Kakashi rasped. The two jounin behind him tensed.

Kurenai's brow wrinkled. "Zelda? What are you doing here?" she called out.

"Zelda? So that's the vixen's name," Kisame taunted, "I'm surprised that you, a woman, know such technique." He pointed Samehada at her. "Want to play?"

Zelda quickly drew out the Goddess Sword and formed Nayru's shield around herself. Kisame laughed as he dashed towards her, only to not only be blocked by the shield, but her sword as well. With Fi helping her hold Kisame at bay, Zelda added more power to the shield, which forced Kisame away from her.

"Do I know you?" the older Uchiha asked.

"No, but I know you. You're the one who massacred his whole clan, leaving only but one survivor: your younger brother, Sasuke," Zelda said with no hint of fear, "The one who had no choice but to kill his clan because of the betrayal they would've committed."

"Betrayal?" Asuma murmured.

Kakashi tried his best to stay awake, but it was hard enough for him to just keep himself standing on the water. Itachi were emotionless, but on the inside, was surprised at how she knew so much about him. Especially on _that _subject.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Itachi replied smoothly, "I killed my clan because they were all weak. The only reason why Sasuke lives is because he was too pathetic to kill."

"I don't believe that," Zelda said.

Itachi looked at her. "I care not what you believe," he said. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them, the Sharingan whirling.

'No!' Kakashi thought as he felt familiar chakra flare up, except it wasn't aimed at him.

Zelda fearfully looked into his eyes, and prepared for the worst; however, she soon realized that nothing happened. The Sharingan didn't affect her.

'But…how can that be?' she thought.

Itachi's eyes narrowed as he realized his jutsu wasn't affecting her.

"SEVERE LEAF HURRICANE!"

She looked over to see Might Guy appear and deflect Kisame's attack, the blow sending Kisame back to where he once stood.

Zelda closed her eyes and smirked. "Too bad your Sharingan didn't affect me," she told Itachi, who just stared at her.

"Well, who have we here?" Kisame asked in a rough voice.

"The Leaf Village's fiercest beast of battle. I'm Might Guy," he said with his infamous Nice-Guy smile.

"You're Might Guy, huh? Mighty stupid looking guy," Kisame taunted.

"Don't underestimate him," Itachi said to Kisame, his eyes still on Zelda. He still couldn't figure out why his Sharingan had no effect on her. "Who…are you?" he asked her.

Zelda's mouth was tightly shut as she glared at the older Uchiha. Her eyes widened as she looked past him. "Kakashi!" Zelda cried as she watched as the Copy-nin fall face forward in the water and started to sink. Gai walked over to him and hoisted him over his shoulder.

"What they must have put him through," Gai growled as he looked back to the duo.

"Close your eyes! Don't look at Itachi or you'll be caught in his jutsu," Asuma told him.

"Relax. I know what I'm doing," Gai reassured the other jounin, "After spending this much time training to fight Kakashi, I know all about Sharingan." He paused for a moment. "Alright, both of you. Open your eyes now," he commanded them.

"But…if we…" Kurenai began, but Gai cut her off.

"Don't worry. Just don't look at his eyes. That's the key to fighting an opponent using Sharingan. Focus on his feet, you can read what he's going to do from his feet."

Kurenai opened her eyes. "Alright," she said, "But that trick sounds easier said than done.

Asuma followed suit. "We haven't had all your training. We're not you, Gai."

"True, it takes skill to anticipate an opponent's move by merely watching his feet. But I don't have time to teach you now. You'll just have to do your best."

"So what do we do?" Asuma asked.

"Kurenai," Gai called out as he walked over to her with Kakashi on his shoulder, "get Kakashi to the medical corp. Asuma, you'll be my back up."

Asuma nodded. "Got it."

"Zelda," Gai called out to her, "Go back to the village with Kurenai and Kakashi. It's too dangerous for you to be here. This battle is for Asuma and I."

Zelda sheathed the Goddess Sword, but was hesitant to leave.

Gai looked back at the Akatsuki duo. "Alright. I've sent word to the ANBU Black Ops, but until they get here_we_hold them off. Just you and me," he told Asuma.

"Interesting," Kisame said, "I'll give you credit for guts." He gripped the hilt of Samehada. But before he could do anything, his partner stopped him.

"No Kisame, we're pulling out."

Kisame looked at his partner with surprise and disbelief.

"We're not here to fight a full scale battle," Itachi explained, "Tempting as it may be, it's not the way to do this. Let's go."

"That's too bad," Kisame said, "It was just getting fun. They don't know how lucky they are."

They both disappeared.

"Damn," Asuma growled. The jounin were looking at the spot where the two Akatsuki members had just stood. Kurenai adjusted Kakashi's one arm she had wrapped around her shoulder.

"We should go back to the village," Gai said, "Kakashi needs medical attention." He then appeared in front of Zelda. "We need to be fairly quick. One of us will have to carry you," he told her.

Zelda nodded mutely, and allowed the green spandex-wearing jounin to pick her up bridal style. Gai turned to the other three and saw that Asuma took up Kakashi's other side, taking some of the weight off of Kurenai.

"Let's go."

**A/N:** The reason why Itachi's Sharingan doesn't affect Zelda, is the same reason why Twilight doesn't affect Zelda in TP. And those of you who wonder why Zelda can control her powers, you're forgetting the character of Zelda…She's suppose to be wise beyond her years, and she's the reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia! Oops…well I kinda spoiled that for you, unless you've already played Skyward Sword.

Anyway, you know the whole shebang about reviewing or adding me.


	10. IMPORTANT NOTE!

Dear readers,

This message will go on all of my stories.

I know what you're all thinking—hurry up and update the damn story! And I want to give you all a HUGE apology for taking this long to even say something. But here's the deal…

I am a month away from becoming a senior in college. As some of you may know, I am majoring in creative writing. I have my first book in the works (it's actually a book series, but whether or not the series will happen is up to the editor and publisher). Next year, it's all about me editing and revising the book—which will be completely written by the end of this summer. So, with that being said, I literally have ZERO time to work on these stories. That doesn't, however, mean that I'm not thinking about them. I do have chapters planned out, just not written (some of them are at least started). But I have no idea when I'll be able to get them.

Again, I sincerely apologize to those who have been returning to the story to see if I've updated. If you have an account, my advice is to make sure you are on the story's "Alert" list so that you don't have to keep checking—you'll receive an email that will tell you when I upload a new chapter. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed my stories, favorited them, put them on story alert, and also those who have put me on their "favorite authors" and/or "author alert" lists. I am truly grateful to you all, and fanfiction has done nothing except keep me writing.

Until then!

~Yuesmlihui~


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